The Real King
by Nova Alexandria
Summary: A night of passion between Grimmjow and Ichigo results in something Ichigo never expected to happen. A gift for BlackStorm. Dom Ichi! Anal, M/M, MPreg, COMPLETE.
1. The Real King

Warnings: Descriptive and slightly violent sex.

This is a gift to Black Storm from Devaint art for her wonderful Chibi Szayels. Now I am not an expert, but I am pretty sure Grimm/Ichi is one of her fav pairings. So Black Storm, this is for you, and honestly it's something I have been stewing over for a while and Chibi Szay just gave me the motivation to write it down finally.

* * *

><p>The Real King<p>

Spring was always an interesting time of the year. There was a feeling of life, of vigour, in the air as the sleepy earth awoke from it's winter nap. That same spring spirit sang in the blood of every young male, regardless of species.

Truly the only way to curb it was to work oneself to exhaustion, give into it, or become so distracted that one forgets about the cry of nature singing through ones veins.

"_**So do something about it king,"**_ the hollow half of Zangetsu taunted.

"_Shut up,"_ he snapped back irritated.

Of course the situation wasn't being made any easier by the constant nagging of his Hollow nor the presence of the man sprawled out on his bed taking a nap while he attempted, rather poorly at that, to catch up on all the excess homework fighting a war had created. He didn't even want to consider how far behind he was in his studies.

Ichigo let out another frustrated sigh of annoyance and leaned back in his chair, eyes unconsciously darting to the other man laying comfortably in his bed, his feet just dangling off the end due to his height.

Honestly, Ichigo had been shocked that Grimmjow had shown up so soon after the war. In fact when he had spotted the Espada earlier this month he had just stared at him in shock for a good minute.

Apparently the Espada had shown up, fully healed from his grievous wounds, to collect on the promise of that fight. Unfortunately, Ichigo had been on his way to school that morning and had managed to convince Grimmjow to wait until afterwards.

For the entire month now Grimmjow would randomly show up to collect his due. Sometimes he would show up in the morning, sometimes late at night. Each time Ichigo would have to convince him to wait until his 'dull and boring' obligations were done before they could fight.

Most of the time the Espada would take off and return later at night, but for the last few days he had decided to remain and make claim to the only other piece of furniture in Ichigo's room; his bed.

The other would sprawl out and stare at the ceiling while Ichigo's pencil would scratch over his homework until around nine. That would be when Grimmjow would finally get impatient and leap to his feet with a 'let's go, Shinigami.'

At first their battles were just a way to repay a debt, but soon they became something more, and despite himself Ichigo felt himself eagerly awaiting the arrival of his blue haired rival.

There was an energy to their sparing, something he had never felt before from any of his other partners and opponents. With Grimmjow there was no expectations, simply two people exchanging blows and letting off steam.

There was something different in the air tonight. When Grimmjow had shown up this morning on his way to school he hadn't even started the 'time to fight' argument they always had.

Instead he had simply asked what the plan was today and Ichigo had informed him they could fight later tonight after his family had left for the long weekend to visit his grandparents.

Normally he would have left as well but he had far too much work to do and was going to work on his homework while trying catch up with his studies.

Grimmjow had been surprisingly patient and had crashed on his bed while he started on his homework. He wasn't sure when the Espada had actually drifted off to sleep but he certainly looked a lot less feral while napping.

Ichigo had never really taken the time to study the man slumbering in his bed. In sleep he did look a lot less feral, less angry, and rather delectable.

He blinked at the thought in surprise. Okay yes, Grimmjow did have one hell of a hot body, hole and all, there was no deny that. The feral, Hollow, instinctive part of him recognized that. The Human part rebelled at the very idea of it. The Shingiami part seemed to be indifferent.

Somehow though, Ichigo seriously doubted the Espada found him interesting in that way at all.

"_**Pft, how could he not, King. Just wake him up and watch his eyes. They swim with lust. They have for several weeks now."**_

"_For battle,"_ Ichigo responded dryly, wishing the Hollow half of Zangetsu could take a page from the old man and be more quiet.

"_**Battle, lust, love, hate, they are all but a Yen apart from each other,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu declared.

Was there anything he could do to shut the other up? He wished Shinji and the other Vizard had covered that during his training, but after the war they had all just disappeared. Everyone had. The only person from that other life he had seen since the war was Grimmjow.

There had been no sign of Rukia or Renji since the battle concluded and while he felt somewhat snubbed for it, the rational part of his mind recalled that there had been a lot of damage and work that needed to be done to return Soul Society to a fully, functional, working order.

"Do you plan on staring at me all night?" Grimmjow suddenly demanded.

Ichigo jerked in surprised, causing his chair to tip back a little too far. Arms and legs flailing, the chair finished tipping and he went crashing to the ground with a squeak of protest form the chair and a squawk of surprise from the Hybrid.

Grimmjow laughed at him and sat up on the bed, looking down at him with a wide smirk of amusement.

"It's not that funny," Ichigo grunted, crawling to his feet and rubbing his aching backside.

"Looks damn funny from here," Grimmjow smirked.

"_**Look at his eyes king." **_

Ichigo growled an annoyed 'shut up' back at the other, but couldn't stop himself from doing as ordered. To his annoyance there was something in those stunning blue eyes that he didn't recognize. He found himself captivated and before he knew it he was standing up and moving towards the Espada.

Blue remained locked on stern brown as he finished closing the meagre distance between them until they were only a foot apart.

"See something you like, Shinigami?" Grimmjow taunted.

Ichigo didn't answer, too captivated by the raw hunger he noticed in the others eyes, and somehow he knew it wasn't a hunger for his blood.

"**_See king._" **

"_Shut up,_" he snapped back. "Maybe," he admitted.

"I would hope so, you would need to be blind not to," the other taunted, creating a bit of distance. "Are you done that stupid work crap yet? You promised me a fight."

Well no he wasn't done, but there was no way he could return his attention to it now. Not with the sudden growing tension between them.

He could feel himself teetering on some forbidden edge, could feel something stirring in his blood he had never felt before. Or more accurately, something he had never felt while staring at another male. For all that he was, Ichigo was still a male teenager and no male teenager went through life without at least a damn near daily erection.

Belatedly, he realized he hadn't answered the question.

"Yeah, for now anyway," he answered with a grunt.

He tried to turn his gaze away, but found himself falling into those deep, blue pools that continued to stare at him hungrily.

"_**He wants ya King, and you know it. You going to let him best ya?**_**"**

Oh what he wouldn't give to find a way to shut the other up.

"_**You want him King, don't deny it."**_

"_He isn't human,"_ he shot back.

"_**So? Are you?"**_

Okay, he didn't have a good argument for that one. During his distraction arguing with, well, himself, Grimmjow had closed the distance between them once more.

"If I thought you would take me up on it, I would challenge you to a _different_ form of combat," the Espada leered.

"Try me," he found himself responding before his brain could even think about it; or at least the brain attached to his neck.

There was an honest flash of surprise in Grimmjow's eyes before it was quickly covered, but Ichigo still caught it.

"_**What you got to lose King? Go for it.**_**"**

Before he could even finish registering the other's command, he found himself closing the last little bit of distance between the two of them and latching his lips upon the Espada's.

He felt Grimmjow stiffen in surprise, clearly not expecting him to boldly do something like that, but he wasn't pushed away and the moment the surprise wore off he felt the other return his attention ten fold.

"_**Don't let him dominate. Give as good as you get,**_**"**Hollow Zangetsu ordered sternly.

Ichigo didn't even hear the advice. Competitive by nature he was determined to match Grimmjow kiss for kiss and did so. Lips quickly parted and tongues began to clash with as much ferocity as their Zanpakuto and fists have in the past.

Neither tongue spent much time in the other's mouth as they duelled between their lips, each trying to dominate the battle and thus spend more time in the others mouth.

He felt hot and the desire to feel the others skin under his hands became unbearable. It was nothing to brush the jacket off of Grimmjow's shoulders and toss it aside. Their battling kiss was put briefly on hold as Grimmjow pulled Ichigo's shirt over his head and tossed it aside. As soon as the fabric was clear the battle resumed.

"_**Just follow my advice King, trust me," **_Hollow Zangestsu insisted.

"_Why should I?" _Ichigo questioned with a large hint of distrust.

"_**I am a Hollow too. I know what he wants and how to give it to him."**_

"_Fine, fine. Whatever. Just let me know what to do."_

"_**Trust me King, we will make this a night he will never forget.**_**"**

(POV)**  
><strong>

Fighting had been all that had been on Grimmjow's mind when he had tracked down Ichigo that morning a month ago. He had wanted to collect his due right then and there but the teen had convinced him to wait until evening. He had waited several months for this battle, he could stand to wait a few more hours.

It had been one hell of a battle and he had returned to Hueco Mundo well satisfied. But it didn't last long. All too soon his blood burned for another fight. And another. And another. And before he know it he found himself all but stalking the hybrid in anticipation for their battles.

At first he thought nothing of it, but over the last few battles he had started to become distracted. He would be a fool not to recognize how delectable his rival looked, and that youthful ignorance just made him look all the more tastier.

For the last forty eight hours he had been tormenting himself with weather or not he dared to offer the Shinigami wannabe a romp. Well, not really a romp. He had evolved to the point of almost being able to pass as human and the return of so many emotions, and morals (shudder), had come with it.

Hollows, at least those of an Adjucus level and lower, only had intercourse when they planned on mating, and Hollows did not mate under the moon whispering sweet nothings into each others ears while making soft, loving sex. There was damn little difference between Hollows fighting and Hollows mating. After all, if your partner wasn't strong enough to survive it than they were not worthy to bear your offspring.

The problem was Grimmjow wasn't sure if he could just have casual sex or if the reiashi that made up his body wouldn't automatically start up the Mating Ritual weather he wanted it to or not. Thinking about it had left his brain aching.

He had never intended to take a nap either, but the bed had just been too comfortable this time and sleep had been a fleeting thing for him. Sleep was a very dangerous thing in Hueco Mundo and the fact he had dropped his guard enough to rest comfortably around the Shinigami bothered him greatly.

Not even when he had traveled with companions had he ever dared to fall into a full and deep sleep, and certainly not after evolving into an Arrancar. Yet here, in this human/shinigmai/hollow's home he had fallen into the deepest slumber he could ever recall.

And now the other was looking at him in a way that made his blood stir, and not the blood that normally raced down his arms and forced his hands to draw his blade. No, this blood raced down between his legs and stirred an organ he had not felt stiffen in a very long time.

But Ichigo, for all his strength and abilities, was still merely a human boy. Well, teenager really and at that age a breath of wind could probably make him hard. The boy didn't know what he was initiating.

Hollows did not make pleasant love. To Hollows the act of mating was damn near close to fighting and it always ended in one submitting to the other. Mating was not something entered into lightly. It was a dangerous thing where if the partner was too weak they would be devoured. And since only one could dominate, that meant the other had to submitted, and no Hollow liked submitting to another.

"_Well, there are a few exceptions, pussy as weakling,"_ he growled to himself. _"And if he does not stop staring at me like that, I swear I might just forget the fact he is human and…._" he never finished because Ichigo was suddenly kissing him.

He froze in shock for a moment before his body instantly responded to the challenge. Like hell some human was going to outdo him. No fucking way. He didn't come back to his senses until they were both shirtless.

Startled, and annoyed he had lost so much control to instinct already, he forced himself to take a step back. He couldn't permit this to continue. If it went too far he would not be able to stop himself a second time.

Not that Ichigo wasn't attractive, but he was not a Hollow. And if something did go wrong he would find his ass being hunted down by all of the teenagers annoying rabble of friends. Some of those friends were rather powerful and he did not want to spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulders any more than he already had to.

Truthfully, he just didn't want to lose the odd relationship he shared with the teen. Ichigo was one of the few who wasn't only on par with him for power, but was willing to let lose and go at it.

"We shouldn't do this," he spoke.

"You are backing down?" Ichigo asked challengingly with a raised eye.

"You do not know what you are instigating," he insisted, but his will was already wavering.

"I am not a boy, I know damn well what I am instigating," Ichigo snapped back annoyed.

"No, you do not," he insisted.

He tried to take another step back, and nearly tripped over the bed he had forgotten was behind him. To his shock Ichigo took advantage of his slight moment of off balance to shove him. He landed on the bed with a surprised oomph and didn't have time to recover before the other was quickly kneeling before him.

He tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down again, and this time pinned down by Ichigo's flushed body. He felt his instinct rear up violently, demanding to shove the other beneath him and reclaim dominance.

He fought violently against it, wrestled vigorously to keep it under check, than lost spectacularly when the feel of a wet tongue tracing up the scar on his chest reached his senses, tickling the more sensitive flesh.

He let out a gasp and found himself arching into the feeling before regaining a bit of sense.

"_Fine, he want's to play this game, let's see just how far he will go before he begs to stop,"_ Grimmjow growled to himself.

If Ichigo wanted a taste of what facing a Mating Hollow was like, so be it. Grimmjow let lose most of his instinct. His reiatsu flared violently and nearly threw the other off of him at the sudden unexpected rise.

Grimmjow used that chance to flip them over so he was now on top. Instead of the trace of sudden fear he was expecting from Ichigo's eyes he saw they were now a more golden color instead of their usual brown that nearly left him breathless. They were also narrowed in a mixture of pleasure and challenge.

In his own moment of shock Ichigo grabbed a fistful of powder blue hair and dragged Grimmjow's head down for another heated kiss that was as much off a battle as it was a kiss.

Their tongues twisted, thrust, and parried each other in a bid to get the most time in the others mouth. The battle waged back and forth as viscously as any other battle they had ever fought.

But more importantly than their tongue war, Ichigo's reitasu rose and clashed with his own, challenging his strength without any sign of hesitation or weakness. Their hands were not idle either.

Ichigo raked his hands down Grimmjow's bare back, leaving small trials of red claw marks while Grimmjow worked diligently at the rather annoying leather belt holding the teenagers jeans up.

Finally, he let Ichigo take the lead in the tongue war while he focused on snapping the damn annoying leather belt and finally getting the teen's jeans opened enough to start chivvying them down Ichigo's hips.

Now Ichigo had slim hips, but the jeans clung to him like a second skin and refused to move at anything resembling a half acceptable speed. Growling in frustration he had to retreat from the tongue war so he could sit up and move down Ichigo's body to finish pulling the damn annoying jeans off of him, leaving him in nothing but his boxers and a pair of socks.

Satisfied, he let himself smirk in triumph as he tossed the offending item away and turned his attention back to his victim, just in time to watch the other grasp his shoulders and reverse their position so he was on the bottom.

"_Oh hell no,"_ he protested silently, but made sure his eyes and the snarl he gave conveyed the message anyhow.

They were both beyond the ability for rational speak, and that was fine by him. Actions spoke louder than words anyway. He tried to sit up only to have Ichigo place his hands on his shoulders and force him back down with both physical strength and the power of his reiatsu.

He snarled like a trapped animal and tried once more, only to freeze when he felt the other's teeth graze his throat. He laid back down slowly so as not to started the other and remained still while Ichigo nuzzled his neck and slowly began to lick the delicate flesh above his jugular. One hand worked its way behind his head and took a tight, almost painful, grip on his air to assure he would remain still.

Grimmjow let out a shiver that only increased when he felt Ichigo's other hand begin to undo the obi holding up his Hakama. Unlike the teen's annoyingly tight jeans, Grimmjows loose Hakama were easily and quickly removed to be tossed onto the floor somewhere.

Only a small fraction of his brain was even aware of the cool air hitting his now bare legs and lower body. Most of his attention was on the mouth and teeth sucking and nibbling on his jugular and the nails scraping pleasantly against his scalp.

He felt a flush of heat race uncontrollably through his body at the feeling of danger and pleasure the sensation left him in. The single snap of Ichigo's fangs could end his life right now. The fact that Ichigo was human and probably incapable of ripping his throat out with his blunt, human teeth hardly crossed his mind.

Finally, the teen pulled his head away and shifted about above him. Grimmjow took the opportunity to regain control of the situation, flipping Ichigo back under him and bringing the full force of his reiatsu down to keep the teen pinned.

The look on Ichigo's face was not one of shock or annoyance, but one of amusement. Grimmjow felt his blood surge that he wasn't being taken seriously as a threat and resolved to fix the situation. How dare Ichigo act like he could reverse their situation at a moment notice?

Without any hesitation Grimmjow tore the boys boxers off, grabbing the socks on his way by before clearing himself of the last little bit of clothing he was also sporting. They were both naked now, and both of them had a sheen of sweat coating their bodies.

The smell of sexual pheromones was so heavy in the air now that they made Grimmjow feel almost a bit dizzy with desire. The size and sight of his targets full arousal definitely didn't help matters.

Ichigo was pretty well hung for a teenager and there was precum already beading at the tip. Grimmjow could not stop himself from licking his lips in desire and felt his own hardened piece pulse in pleasure as he noticed that this was the first time there was a hint of hesitation and uncertainty in the teen.

However, as fast as those two emotions appeared, they were suddenly gone and those golden eyes bore into his challengingly, as if daring him to try and dominate him.

"_You asked for it,"_ Grimmjow silently pointed out.

He began to lay nipping kisses along Ichigo's thighs, growling in pleasure as his sharpened teeth lightly punctured the skin just deep enough to let a few beads of blood escape. He eagerly lapped up the red pearls before moving to another spot of skin and doing the same, over and over until both of Ichigo's thighs were covered in the love bites and he slowly moved up Ichigo's body leaving a trail in his wake until he latched onto a nipple.

Ichigo didn't protest at all to the love nips and let out a soft gasp of pleasure at each one before letting out a louder, pleased growl as Grimmjow's lips latched onto one of his nipples. Grimmjow was so engrossed on getting reactions from his victim that he hardly even noticed that Ichigo's own hands had returned to leaving light scratches down his back once again until the other's hands suddenly grasped his ass and gave it a hard squeeze.

He snapped his fangs in agitation and finished his ascent up Ichigo's body and began to rub their two swords against each other. Ichigo bucked his hips up without any sign of hesitation and the eyes that bore into Grimmjow's were clouded in lust and challenge, as if daring him to try and finish what they had started.

And oh did Grimmjow want to finish it, but that rather annoying thing called a conscious reared its ugly head at the worse possible moment and reminded him that Ichigo was human, that he had no idea what he had initiated. And while they grinded against each other like the wild animals at least once of them was, Grimmjow found himself struggling to reign the situation in before he did something he would regret later.

There was no reason to finish in a Hollow fashion, there was other ways to end this. So he reached down and grasped both of their erections in one hand and began to stroke them together.

He felt Ichigo buck in pleasure beneath him and the teen let out a cry of pleasure. He kept it up, determined to at least make Ichigo cum first. He forced his eyes open, which had closed in pure pleasure, so he could watch as he forced the other to come to completing.

He felt his body freeze and for a moment the world stood still as golden eyes gazed into shocked blue. Grimmjow realized right at that moment he had made a mistake, but it was too late.

The hand wrapped around their arousals loosened in shock, letting them both slip free before he felt Ichigo's hands dig into his rear and adjust their position ever so slightly.

"_No_!" he thought desperately in shock.

He struggled internally, snapping, biting, and snarling at the invisible chains of instinct that bound him to this course, but found himself unable to break either the gaze of pure lust and victory that held his own nor could he stop his body from moving as Ichigo directed him.

The only small amount of his dignity that was spared was the fact he was still on top. He felt Ichigo massage his rear softly before the Hybrid slowly started to penetrate him and Grimmjow's own body willingly sank down upon the other, completely ignoring the pain that briefly erupted from the unprepared intrusion.

He had not intended for this to happen, hadn't wanted this to come full course. Even if he had intended it he had no intentions of being the submissive one, but the reiatsu clashing about them and the howl of unbeatable instinct forced his Hollow body to obey the cry of nature.

Once Ichigo was fully seated inside of him he felt his body begin to move and the howling of reiatsu around them suddenly calmed completely, almost like entering the eye of a furious storm. What had up to this point been an almost bloody battle had suddenly calmed into the gentle rise and fall of their joined bodies.

Everything felt so calm and surreal and pleasure coursed through his body as the friction between their bodies rose. He screamed mentally that this could not be happening even while he panted and whimpered in pleasure. The golden gaze locked onto his own almost seemed to be laughing at him and for the first time since his first battle with the teenager he caught a hint of someone else behind those eyes.

The calm that had settled amongst the storm of their lovemaking suddenly broke without warning, and he found himself suddenly back in control of his body as he threw back his head and howled in pleasure as he came to completion, his cum shooting out to splash stickle on their chests. Free of the spell at last he tried to separate them, to stop the ritual before it could came to full completion.

Ichigo maintains a tight grip on his hips, rolled them over with far too much ease, and adjusted their positions so he was now on top and Grimmjow was the one pinned to the bed. He squirmed under the teen, trying to push the other off of him, and didn't even noticed one of the boys hands tangling into his hair until his head was jerked to the side to bear his throat to the teens mouth once more.

He instinctively froze again as Ichigo's teeth grazed over the soft flesh above his juggler, nipping at his skin with both threat and promise. Once more Grimmjow found himself shivering at the thrill of danger. The shiver sent the teen off again and Ichigo resumed thrusting into his body with strong, solid strokes that left little doubt about his power and dominance. It was almost an additional two dozen more strokes before the searing heat of the teens release coursed into him.

Grimmjow let out another cry and tried to pry them apart, but he was held fast by Ichigo's hands; one tangled in his hair, the other pinning his hips in place while the boys teeth latched onto his throat, forcing him to still once more. Ichigo maintained that grip on him, his hips jerking slight with his release, until the assault of semen and reiatsu from the teens orgasm finally subsided.

For a moment everything was comply still and the only sound in the room was that of their breathing.

Grimmjow's entire body was numb with shock at what had just occurred and he didn't resist when he felt Ichigo finally release him and pull out only to spoon up behind him. Ichigo pull a blanket over their quickly cooling bodies before wrapping an arm around his waist to settle over his abdomen.

Grimmjow remained frozen in shock while Ichigo nuzzled his neck and nipped at his throat a few more times in an obvious display of dominance and ownership before sighing in blissful content, making a pleased murmuring sound before drifting into a pleasant slumber.


	2. Tied

Warnings: This chapter contains scenes of a sexual nature, readers are advised to sit back, relax, and enjoy them.

Tied

Despite how exhausted he was, Grimmjow found himself unable to drift off just yet as his stomach churned painfully and his thoughts whirled about in shock at what had just happened. How the hell had the teen manage to do this to him?

He had to leave. He had to escape. Despite how exhausted he was and how much his stomach was churning as it absorbed both of their reiatsu and genetic material, he forced himself to sit up.

The arm around him suddenly tightened and held him in place, preventing any form of escape for the moment.

"**Going somewhere, pet?"** a strange, echoing voice asked amused.

He froze in shock and looked over his shoulder to see Ichigo's eyes were wide open and while they were still golden, they were definitely different. It wasn't just because the sclera where now black instead of white either. These were the eyes of his kind, the eyes of a dangerous and powerful hollow.

"What?" he questioned confused.

"**Did you think I would let you top King? He may have been naive about what you were attempting, but I was not,"** the echoing voice leered.

"I wasn't attempting anything," he snarled in denial and tried to pull free.

He was held firmly in place as if he were but a babe struggling in the jaws of a large predator.

"**You were thinking about it. I could smell it on you,"** the creature accused harshly.

He increased his struggles to escape, but found the other's grip on him was too damn strong and his stomach was starting to really hurt now as his insides reformed. He bit his lip to stop from crying out at a rather painful twist.

"**You can't leave and we both know it,"** the Hollow laughed, his voice echoing darkly. **"You belong to us now. You can not hope to survive alone until the Mating is complete. Already your scent is changing,"** he taunted.

The damn creature was right. It would be dangerous to leave now until the results of their mating was resolved. His scent was changing even as his stomach churned and would attract every Hollow for kilometres.

"Ichigo?" he questioned hesitantly, wondering what had become of the Hybrid.

"**He's sleeping right now. If it makes you feel better I merely directed his actions at first until instinct took over and did the rest. He has no idea what he has really done to you. Oh he will remember the great sex, but he doesn't know the consequences of your actions,"** the disgusting echoing laughter rang out again. **"And you know what, I think I will leave that up to YOU to explain to him."**

His stomach was slowly starting to settle and he was finally released from the others grip. Free at last he tore out of the bed as if the dogs of hell were on his heels, but he didn't go far. He couldn't go far.

He spun about to toss a glare of pure hatred at the Hollow smirking up at him from the bed. His nudity meant nothing to him and he clenched his fists so tight blood began to run down his knuckles to drip slowly to the floor.

What had meant to be a night of crossing blades in mutual pleasure had turned into a nightmare all thanks to this creature.

"**Awe, come back to bed pet,"** the Hollow cooed,** "Ichigo would be disappointed to wake up and find you gone after a night of such passion as you two shared,"** the Hollow taunted, holding a hand out to him invitingly.

He wanted to do nothing more than pull his clothes on and run, but he knew that was not an option until after everything came to its conclusion. It would be far too dangerous for him to be caught out alone.

"**If it will make you feel better I will go back to sleep myself. Besides, it is rather tiring to control King's body like this and the old man is really starting to get pissed too,"** the Hollow chuckled.

"Old man?" He couldn't stop himself from asking, his curious nature forcing the question out despite himself.

"**Zangetsu of course,"** the hollow snorted.

"And what's your name?" he demanded.

He didn't ask because he was interested, but merely because it made him feel slightly better to know the creatures name.

"**Tsh, I am Zangetsu as well."** The black began to drain from Ichigo's eyes like oil flowing off of a field of water. **"We are both Ichigo's power, and should he ever fail I will rise up and take his place as King. You might want to remember that, pet,"** Hollow Zangetsu's voice faded away completely as the last of the black cleared from Ichigo's eyes and he once more collapsed onto the bed asleep.

The last flutters in his stomach finished calming down and he glared at it before turning a distrusting gaze back at the teenager. For all intents and purposes he appeared to be deep asleep, as expected for the end of a mating.

For several minutes Grimmjow just stood there, debating on gutting the teen alive for doing this to him or just crawling back into bed and hoping he would wake up in the morning to discover this was all just be a bad dream.

After several minutes of agonizing debate, he crawled back into bed and found himself once more in the grasp of the teen. Ichigo muttered something and nuzzled his neck before going down completely once more. Grimmjow's own exhaustion pulled him down with hardly a fight a few minutes later.

(POV)

Ichigo awoke slowly the next morning, his thighs and chest stinging slightly from Grimmjow's love bites and the memories from last night on the top of his brain. He couldn't believe he had actually done something like that with someone like Grimmjow! It was hardly what he figured his first time would be like, but in all honestly he didn't really think it could have gone much better.

He was dimly aware he was clutching onto something rather warm and he blinked his eyes open to stare in surprise at the sea of powder blue hair inches from his face. In all honesty he was surprised to see the Espada still in his bed, and apparently trapped in his grasp. He had been expecting to wake up alone as Grimmjow really did not seem like the cuddling type.

Ichigo shifted his position carefully so as not to disturb his bed mate. Grimmjow made a soft, almost mewing sound and curled up tighter against him, silently protesting the sudden absence of warmth like any slumbering cat. Ichigo found himself chuckling softly in amusement. Like last night he noticed that slumber seemed to tame the savage beast that was Grimmjow. Not that it made him look cute, just that it made him look less ready to rip a person to shreds.

Ichigo supposed that was what had attracted him to Grimmjow in the first place. There was a sense of danger involving the Espada, a sense of adventure his normal High School life and regular, boring patrols just didn't bring. After everything that had happened he needed, CRAVED, that feeling of danger. Nothing that showed up in Kurakura Town was worth going past Shikai for, hell they hardly required the use of Zangetsu at all, and was all to easily defeated. But sparing with Grimmjow let him flex his proverbial wings and go all out.

"_It's not like anyone else is ever around to spar with,"_ he couldn't help but to think bitterly.

"_Ichigo_?" the old man spoke up, taking him by surprise.

"_Yeah, what is it?_" he sent back once he overcame his surprise.

"_Are you okay?" _

"_Yeah, perfectly fine,"_ he couldn't help but to smile in amusement at the concern he was reading from his Zanpakuto, _"I was honestly expecting to wake up alone though. I wonder why he stayed? Grimmjow really didn't seem like the cuddling type to me, but he's still here_."

There was another memory from last night that was foremost in his brain that took him by surprise. He had honestly expected to be the one to bottom, but something just seemed to flow in the air and before he even realized it he had been the one enjoying the feeling of the other's tight muscles clenching around his hardened shaft.

And god had it felt so damn good, way better than any of his past experiences involving his hand and imagination. Just because he wasn't a pervert like Kon didn't mean he didn't have needs, dreams or desires.

The more he awoke, the more he felt the usual morning demands knocking on his body. The need to get something to eat and empty his former meals hit him with a familiar urge. Despite his growing hunger and the need to pee gnawing on him, he couldn't bring himself to leave just yet.

"_Kami knows when I will ever get to see him like this again. If I know Grimmjow he's probably going to wake up with his tail in a knot over being so vulnerable and storm out of here in a huff with his nose in the air."_

"_**That's the least of his concerns King,**_**"** his Hollow's voice echoed with a rather hysterical laugh attached at the end.

And there went the peaceful morning. He let out a soft groan and prayed the other would remain silent while he slowly started to untangling himself from his bed mate. He stopped halfway through though and considered the situation.

Now if he recalled how these events in movies, anime and manga always worked out, letting one partner wake up alone after a night of sex usually didn't end well for the one doing the crawling out of bed. He was loathed to wake the sleeping Espada up; to break the moment of peace that had settled around them, but in the end he went with common sense and, with a sigh of regret, he gently shook Grimmjow's shoulder and called his name softly.

Grimmjow gave off a another soft little mew before his face scrunched up in annoyance and blurry blue eyes blinked open to glare at him for disturbing what appeared to be a good sleep.

"Wha'?" Grimmjow murmured confused. "Ichigo?" he questioned.

"Morning," Ichigo greeted with a trace of a smile. "I was going to get up and make something to eat. Are you hungry?" he questioned.

"I don't exactly eat your kind of food," he pointed out sleepily, running a hand over his face to clear away the last vestiges of slumber.

"Good point," he admitted, finishing getting out of bed.

He winced as he looked down at his thighs and chest, a few of the teeth marks had beading droplets of blood, but otherwise there wasn't much in the way of damage. In fact now that the bed was free, Grimmjow took the opportunity to spread out on his chest to claim more of it for himself.

"_Typical cat,"_ Ichigo couldn't help but to think amused.

Ichigo did stare in surprise at the numerous claw marks running down Grimmjows back. Like his own bite marks there were several beads of blood but the damage didn't appear too bad. He found himself licking his lips as he watched one bead slowly start to run down the Espada's side.

Before he even realized what he was doing he was kneeling bedside the bed and capturing the bead with his tongue. He felt Grimmjow shiver beneath him. Ichigo rolled the taste about in his mouth and found it addicting before moving to the next bead of blood, catching it with his tongue.

"What are you doing?" Grimmjow demanded with a hint of surprise, but made no motion of moving.

Ichigo didn't answer, he didn't know why he was doing this, only that he needed to taste more. He continued to lap up the beads of blood on Grimmjow's back with his tongue. Beneath him Grimmjow made a sound akin to a little whimper, but made no sign of wanting Ichigo to stop.

He never figured himself the type to enjoy the taste of blood, but the little droplets left a nice tang on his tongue. He found himself slowly moving over every scratch mark, licking up each bead until he found himself flush against his bed mate.

He let out a groan as he realized he was rock hard and the heat in his body demanded release. Beneath him he felt Grimmjow shift slight as he rubbed up against him, making his arouse and interest apparent to the blue haired Arrancar. Would the Espada be ready for another round so soon? Hell, would he even want another round or had last night been an accident?

"_**If ya want it King, take it,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu crowed in delight.

He ignored the voice and continued to lick a trail up Grimmjow's spine until he reached the others neck and began to nuzzle it contently while rubbing his erection against the others rear, silently asking if he wanted another round.

To his surprise Grimmjow turned his head slightly to the side so he was facing the window and bared his neck to him. Ichigo took the offering and began to suck softly on the exposed flesh above his jugular, letting his teeth graze against the skin. He could feel the pulse of blood in his mouth and felt Grimmjow shiver beneath him. The urge to go another round nearly overwhelmed him.

"I want you again," he whispered huskily into the other's ear.

Grimmjow gave off a delicious shiver and he took the Espada's silence, and lack of violence against his person, as consent. Grimmjow didn't protest as Ichigo reached over to his dresser and pulled out the lower drawer before rooting around and pulling out a bottle of cream.

He poured a generous amount on his hand before shifting to lay beside his bed mate and began to massage the cream into his partners ass, starting with his cheeks and working his way down and eventually in.

His hands began to tingle as the cream worked its way into both of their skin. He felt Grimmjow shiver and let out an earthy moan of pleasure as the cream started to work its magic.

"Enough, finish it already," Grimmjow growled feral like.

"Impatient," Ichigo taunted.

"Just fuck me already," Grimmjow snapped.

"Desperate much," he chuckled.

Grimmjow growled something back that Ichigo didn't quite catch, but when he started to pull the others rear up and position him he met no resistance. He reached a hand around the front and found Grimmjow's semi hard length with one hand while assaulting one of his nipples with the other.

Another shiver rippled through the Espada's body and he felt the length in his hand quickly stiffen. Once he had the other hard, leaking and whimpering he quit teasing the nipple and used the now free hand to position himself at the prepared and slicked entrance.

Kami it was so hot and tight he had to pause the moment he was fully seated. The cry Grimmjow gave off as he seating himself in the Espada didn't help any either. He took several deep breaths before he began to move inside the other, making sure to time his hand's strokes on the other's erection with his strokes into the other's body.

Grimmjow flung his head back and let out a soft cry of pleasure, exposing his throat once more. Ichigo latched his mouth onto the exposed throat, moaning and sucking hungrily on the flesh as he continued his deep and steady thrust into the warm body beneath him. There was just something about his partner's throat that called to the animalistic side of him.

Grimmjow was making little whimpering noises that made his blood boil and he found himself increasing the speed of his thrust. Kami this had to be the best sex he had ever had. Not that he had much experience mind you, this only being his second time engaging in the actual act of copulating with another, but still.

He could feel Grimmjow's back muscles flexing against his chest, could feel the tight heat wrapped around him trembling and clenching, could hear the pants and whimpered moans his partner was trying to conceal, and Kami-sama if that did not make him burn hotter than the sun.

"Please," Grimmjow begged softly, "finish it."

He almost lost it there, so help him. He froze for a moment and just breathed before he started up his strokes again, only this time he sat up a bit more and quit licking and nipping his partner's throat so he could go deeper into the body beneath him. One hand switched to hold Grimmjow's hips steady while the other continued to pump him in time with his thrust, granted both were getting rather erratic.

"Shit! Fucking Hell!" Grimmjow suddenly cursed.

Ichigo let out a surprised cry of pleasure as the hot passage around him suddenly clamped painfully down and started to milk him for all he was worth. Dimly he was aware of the hot seed spilling onto his still pumping hand and splattering on his bed.

A few more convulsions and he felt himself come to a complete finish. Both of them were panting desperately for breath and collapsed against the bed. It took a full minute for Ichigo to collect himself and finally pull out of the other and lay down beside him.

Both of them remained silent while they regained control of their faculties. Honestly, now that it was morning and they were done he honestly had no idea what to say to his partner.

"I am taking a shower, if that's alright with you?" Grimmjow was the one to break the silence, using a tone of voice Ichigo didn't recognize and making his statement almost seem like he was asking for permission.

"Go ahead. You know where it is right?" he questioned worriedly. "_I didn__'__t hurt him did I?__"_ he wondered concerned.

"_**He's fine King, just tired,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu snickered.

Ichigo had almost forgotten about his unwanted passenger and felt himself blush at the thought of the sadistic bastard watching him having sex.

By this point Grimmjow had slowly crawled out of bed and had made his way out of the room and into the bathroom without another word. Ichigo stood up and stretched himself before his stomach saw fit to remind him that; "hay, I am still hungry down here, and by the way, you should probably go make room for some more food."

Sighing, he made his way to the ground floor bathroom, pulling his blankets and sheets off of the bed and dragging them with him to throw into the washer on his way by. He scowled at the soiled sheets and set the washer going before making his way to the kitchen to make some food.

He was ravenous. By the time he was done eating and had gathered up his books to head out he was surprised to note that Grimmjow was STILL in the shower and showing no signs of coming out.

He gathered up their clothing, set out a spare pair of his own clothing, moved the sheets and blankets to the dryer before setting their clothes into the washer and running the cycle.

The fact the house shared the same space as the clinic meant that, fortunately, they had a rather large hot water tank, because after all that and a bit more clean up Grimmjow was still not out of the shower and he needed to meet up with his tutoring partner.

He left a note on his dresser next to the clothes he had set out before throwing his bag over his shoulder and heading out.

He wondered if he would return to an empty house or not, but forced himself to chase such thoughts aside. It wasn't like he owned the Espada or anything and Grimmjow was free to come and go as he pleased.

"_**That's what you think King,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu chuckled amusedly.

"_What do you mean by that?"_ he couldn't help but to question.

Surprisingly, he didn't get an answer and after a moment just brushed the other's comment aside as more pointless drivel and concentrated on walking down the street and not getting himself hit by a car.

After the great night and morning he had, getting himself killed out of sheer stupidity would really put one hell of a damper on his day, not to mention he would never live down the mortification of dying to something so mundane.

* * *

><p>Yes, the hollow is named Zangetsu as well, he made it quite clear to Ichigo when the Shinigami demanded to know who he was. Why he's labeled as Dark Ichigo after his name has been revealed I have no idea. It is clearly stated in both Manga and Anime that he is also Zangetsu. If you want to know the specific Chapter and Episode send me a PM and I will look it up again, but right now I am too tired to dig through the shelf of Manga or the DVD's to find the right scene.<p>

It is a pain to type out Hollow Zangetsu all the time, to distinguish between him and Old Man Zengetsu, so I might think up a nick name for him. If anyone has any idea's, other than the overused Shirosaki or Hichigo, feel free to send it in. I kind of like H'tsu as an abbreviation to Hollow Zangetsu and I will use Ji-san for Old Man Zangetsu, since that is how Ichigo refers to him anyhow.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to review. Prize of Victory is still my primary focus and I will not promise updates on this as, unlike my normal posted stories, I don't have much of this written at all.

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and the refreshing change of seeing Ichigo on top for once in his blooming life. Please note I edited the first chapter. So many errors, I have no idea how I missed them /ashamed.

Next Chapter: when I get around to it, Grimmjow will explain what in the seven hells just happened to a very confused Ichigo.


	3. Alpha and Beta

Alpha and Beta

Grimmjow leaned against the wall in the shower as the scorching hot water ran down his body. He had been so utterly foolish to have presumed for even a **second** that Ichigo was human. He never should have gone soft on the teen, now he found himself in this fucked up situation. A situation that was, admittedly, more his fault than the teen's.

He knew what initiating sex with Ichigo could bring about and had no one but himself to blame for this mess. Of course he had never figured **he** would be the one to become the Beta. It had never even crossed his mind that he would be the one forced to submit himself to the teenager.

Now….. now he was bound to the teen and Ichigo still had no idea what had even happened! The Vizard's inner hollow had made it quite clear that if anyone was going to tell Ichigo just what in the seven hells had happened other than a night of great sex, it would be Grimmjow himself.

"Fuck," he spat, banging his head on the wall. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," he repeated, each word accompanied by another head/wall meeting.

The last thing he had wanted was another round this morning, but his Alpha had demanded and he had obediently submitted. It had been one of the hardest things he had ever done. Obedience was never his strong suit but he didn't dare anger his Alpha when he was going to need to other's protection and blessing to survive the next two months.

Admittedly it wasn't like the sex had been bad or painful or anything, it had actually been better than the night before and Ichigo definitely had a talent in making him squirm with pleasure and had cause him no pain and little humiliation.

Then there was that cream Ichigo had used on him. What the hell was in that stuff? It had left his body feeling, well, tingling with fire was the best way he could think of to describe it.

With a sigh of frustration he let his body slide to the floor of the shower and he contemplated on just how he was going to fix this fucked up situation. Hell, how in the many layers of hell was he even going to explain to some human teenager what had truly happened last night?

He wanted to run. Just return to Hueco Mundo and pretend this entire night hadn't happened, yet at the same time he was thrilled they had been successful. He had never had a successful Mating before. His previous partners had either not survived the violent intercourse with him or had died soon after unable to support the meshing of their beings.

He groaned as the thought was accompanied by a twinge of displeasure in his abdomen. Dimly he realized the water was now ice cold and he had been curled up in the shower for some time, easily over an hour, perhaps boarding two.

He scowled in disgust that he was letting this get to him. Like hell he was some snivelling coward who needed to hide and be comforted like some pathetic ass woman or wimp. He may have been regulated to being the Beta, but he was not going to just roll over and offer his belly to the teen.

He was going to march right up to Ichigo and let him know just what had happened before something bad happened. It wasn't fair to leave Ichigo in the dark when things like this entire mornings charade could have been avoided. It had only occurred because Ichigo hadn't known what he was asking for at the time, nor that his partner _couldn__'__t_ say no to his Alpha's demands, not if he wanted to live for long anyway.

Grimmjow knew Ichigo, knew the teenager would never demand something of him if he didn't want it, which was why this morning had happened in the first place. If only the teen had **asked** him if he wanted the attention instead of **demanding** it. Somehow he had a feeling that blasted Hollow of Ichigo's had been the true culprit.

Grimmjow forced himself back to his feet and turned the freezing water off before stepping out of the shower, grabbing a towel, drying off with perhaps a bit more force than was necessary, before wrapping the towel around his waist and returning to Ichigo's room.

The bed was stripped down and he could hear the sound of both the washer and dryer running. His uniform was missing but a black pair of lose pants and a plain, white T-shirt was folded neatly on Ichigo's desk beside a note.

Frowning, he approached the clothing and note apprehensively.

"_I had to go meet up with my schoolwork partner. Your uniform is in the washer and I hope these fit. I'll be back sometime around three in the afternoon. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, feel free to switch the clothing around when the dryer finishes and don't break anything."_

_-Ichigo_

He stared at the note in surprise before sitting on the edge of the bed and resting his head in his hands. From wild panther to domesticated house cat all in a single night thanks to a stupid, hormonal, instinctual driven event. Fuck his life sucked.

He was an idiot. He was beyond stupid. Nnoitra and the others would have been laughing hysterically at him had they still been alive to do so and he just knew that if Ulquiorra was still around the Fourth would have made some offhanded comment about trash deserving each other.

He had a sudden urging to tear the room to shreds, to destroy every piece of evidence of what had happened, but he couldn't. When he stared at the bed all he could think about was the fire in his belly as he was taken both times. The thrill of their initial combat and vying for dominance.

And if he was honest with himself, Ichigo, hybrid though he may be, was a worthy and acceptable sire. Ichigo would most likely not abandon him like so many others would already have once Mating was done. No, Ichigo would stick around to make sure the result of their breeding would have the best chance of survival it could, a truly commendable trait.

Who knew, maybe the teenager would agree to breed again and this time he would win the fight for dominance. The thought of the teen being the one to bear his throat in submission made his loins tighten in anticipation.

Without even the slightest hint of remorse or discomfort, Grimmjow rooted through that lower drawer and pulled out the strange bottle of cream from last night. He flipped the cap open and gave it a tentative whiff. It smelt disappointedly like normal cream.

He poured a small amount on his hand and spread it with his fingers. Quickly enough he felt the cream on the flesh of his palm begin to heat in a rather pleasing manner. Satisfied, he poured some more on his hand before putting the bottle away, laying down more comfortably on Ichigo's bed and spreading the cream over his quickly growing arousal.

He hissed in pleasure as the warm heat from the cream spread over him. He sighed in pleasure and closed his eyes. It wasn't his hand working his engorged and throbbing manhood, it was Ichigo's heat wrapped around his length as the teen panted and begged for more beneath him with a bared throat begging and whimpering for attention.

Ah but was it a wonderful dream. To see the other squirming beneath him, begging and pleading for more, to be fucked harder and faster. No, better, that hollow half of the boy that had dared to taunt him and call him pet begging for forgiveness while he pounded the bastard straight through the bed.

Both were lucrative visions, but the one that finally had him shooting a stream of cum was the mental image of Ichigo kneeling between his legs and working his length with his mouth. He could almost feel the heat of that moist cavern wrapped around him with the teens tongue lashing his length and moaning in ecstasy as he pleased his Alpha.

Grimmjow promised himself that the day would come where the hybrid would kneel between his thighs, but until that day came he would just have to work harder to become stronger so the next time they mated, and he had no doubt there would be a next time weather Kurosaki wanted it or not, he would be the one to dominate and take his place as Alpha while Ichigo was relegated to becoming the Beta.

But first he had to make it through this first mating, the rearing of their offspring, and worse, explain to a teenage boy what they had done. Oh yeah, from what he recalled of humans that was going to go over so well.

(POV)

"Ichigo, you aren't even paying attention are you? You have been distracted all morning," Ishida sighed in frustration, adjusting his glasses and giving him a disapproving glare.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Ichigo apologised, forcing his mind away from the Espada in his house and back to his lessons.

"Dare I ask what has you so distracted today?" Ishida questioned, closing the book they had been studying from.

"None of your business," Ichigo quickly defended with a snap.

"Would it have something to do with the Arrancar you have been hanging around all month?" Ishida questioned with a raised eye.

Ichigo blinked in surprise and stared at his friends in shock.

"How did…."

"I know?" Ishida interrupted him. "Just because you are inept at sensing reiatsu does not mean the rest of us are as well," he pointed out dryly. "Especially when you flare it so loudly that the entire city can see it regardless of your location," he finished mumbling under his breath.

"I need to work on that," Ichigo grouched to himself in annoyance.

"Indeed," Ishida agreed with him, once more adjusting his glasses.

"Now, did something happen between you and that Arrancar?" Ishida demanded.

Oh something happened alright, and he couldn't stop the blush from lighting up his face and the feeling of his pants getting tighter at the oh so wonderful and pleasant memory. Oh kami why couldn't he keep it down? Heaven forbid all those magazines Keigo had shoved under his nose were right.

Now that he'd had it he just wanted more. It was like a drug. All he could think about was the tight heat wrapped around him and the mind blowing pleasure he got from thrusting into the Espada's body with the sweet, faint taste of Grimmjow's blood as he nipped and sucked at the soft skin on the Espada's throat with the feeling of the others life blood pulsing pleasantly against his lips. The thrill of power he got dominating such a powerful beast.

Wait, was that last thought his or his hollows? He scowled, but before he could attempt to accuse his hollow half of trying to influence his thoughts, Ishida spoke up and forced his attention to the Quincy sitting nearby.

"Ichigo, no matter what you may believe, I am far more intelligent than you. Every time that you and that Espada get together you shake the entire city with the force of your clashing reaitsu. It is highly discourteous. Yet last night you actually had it more….. condensed," Ishida settled for after thinking about what word to use.

"Oh. Yeah well… uh….umm," really, what could he say to that?

'Oh yeah Ishida, my reiatsu was more condensed last night because I was having wild, passionate, steamy, hot sex with Grommjow. You know the same bastard that tried to kill me a half dozen times?'

Yeah, that was going to go over so well with the Quincy. Granted, other than the sex part, Ishida really couldn't say anything. Ichigo did seem to have a habit of befriending the people that wanted to kill him at one point or another in time; like the entire Shinigami population for starters.

"Ichigo, I hope you realize you are as transparent as a piece of glass, and while I do not approve of fraternizing with the enemy, I know better than to try and stop you when you got your mind set on something," Ishida sighed in frustration. "You can be more stubborn than a heard of ox."

"Is it really that obvious?" Ichigo asked embarrassed.

"Yes, quite obvious. We might as well call it a day. I doubt your mind will be on school work," Ishida sighed as he closed up all the other books they had spread out around themselves and started to clean up.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he apologised sheepishly. "See you tomorrow than?" he questioned uncertainly.

"Are you going to be thinking straight tomorrow?" Ishida questioned.

"No promises," he chuckled. "I'll see you tomorrow," he promised.

Ichigo gathered up his gear and stretched to loosen and limber up cramped muscles from being hunched over books all morning before making his way to the front door.

"I do have one question, Kurosaki," Ishida called just before he could open the front door.

"Yeah?" he asked apprehensively.

"How was it? And was it worth it?" Ishida asked rather awkwardly with the barest hint of a blush dusting his cheeks.

"That's two questions," Ichigo couldn't help but to point out with a smirk.

"Just answer the questions," Ishida scowled in obvious embarrassment.

"It was beyond anything I could have imagined, and yes," he answered with a wistful smile, "it was definitely worth it. Even if he's not there when I get back it was definitely worth it."

"So you and Grimmjow, eh?" Ishida pondered.

Ichigo sputtered in surprise.

"Come now Kurosaki, you two have been flaring your reiatsu all over the city, remember. Anyone with half a brain would recognize who it belonged to. I must admit thought, I am honestly not that surprised to discover your sexual taste."

"What!" he demanded, dropping his hand from the door to whirl on the other in shock. "Where on earth did that come from?"

"Like I said, you are rather transparent Kurosaki. A fair number of women, arguably well endowed and beautiful at that, have thrown themselves willingly at your feet and you have never looked twice at them as anything more than a friend. I think that's a good enough indicator right there that women clearly don't attract you."

"Oh," he blushed lightly. "I guess I can't argue with that," he rubbed the back of his head.

"No, you can't. Now get lost. I'll see you tomorrow. And you had better be ready to study this time," Ishida said firmly, "or I will put a hundred arrows up your ass to get your mind back on track," he threatened.

"Right, I'll try not to be distracted," he chuckled amusedly at the threat.

"See that you do."

Ichigo opened the door and started to head home. He was going to be home earlier than his note had indicated, but he would honestly be surprised to come home to find Grimmjow still there anyhow. There was no reason for the former Espada to remain after all.

Still, the thought of returning to an empty home was a surprisingly unpleasant one. Despite himself he found himself walking home a little faster than necessary. By the time he made it to his front door he was almost jogging and burst through the front door.

"_**Relax King. He's still here and not going anywhere anytime soon,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu assured him with a laugh of amusement.

Ichigo frowned in annoyance. The Hollow half of Zangetsu had been rather noisy lately, ever since last night. There was something tugging at the edge of his consciousness. It was strange to see his hollow sooooooo, concerned? No, that wasn't right. Interested? Much closer. Since when did his hollow half care about anything other that the thrill of battle? What was it about this situation that had his hollow's attention?

"_**I am your instinct King. Mating is a powerful instinct,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu piped up helpfully.

"_Can you shut up for more than a day?"_ he demanded in annoyance.

"_**As you wish my King. Your reluctant consort is in your den,"** _ the other snickered.

Ichigo's scowl deepened as he pulled his shoes off and made his way upstairs. His hollow was right, Grimmjow was in his bedroom, apparently fast asleep under the freshly laundered blankets. Now that was strange, but not as strange as his hollow referring to Grimmjow as his consort. That was right out to left field.

He toyed with the idea of waking the Espada up, but in all honestly it was kind of nice to see him so, well, vulnerable. And in all honesty the thought of an afternoon nap was rather appealing. They really didn't get much sleep last night and this morning's activities had been rather exhausting as well.

Well, it was his bed and if he wanted to sleep in it than who was going to stop him? Without a second thought he striped down and crawled carefully into the bed next to the sleeping Arrancar so as not to disturb him.

He was honestly surprised Grimmjow didn't awaken as he made his way into the bed and crawled under the covers. He made himself comfortable on his back, staring up at his ceiling as he considered the situation he found himself in.

Well, it wasn't really much of a situation, but he did have to admit he figured his first time would be with someone he loved and had known for a long time. Not a wild, random romp with a former enemy.

Ichigo closed his eyes and sighed, forcing himself to shut his brain down before he thought too much. Thinking was not his strong suite, he left such things like planning to Ishida and Urahara. They were much better at it than he was.

He much preferred instinct over brains. It hadn't failed him yet and had led him to places he never would have seen and people he never would have met if he had stopped to use his brains all the time.

Sleep snuck up upon him and before he knew it he was drifting off pleasantly in a light slumber. He did have some sleep to catch up on after all.

* * *

><p>Okay I lied, next chapter is the explanations. My bad. Since no one seems to object to H'tsu and seems to like the nick name, I will use it, but you wont see it crop up for a few more chapters since the name needs to be bestowed upon him. Honestly, I think H'tsu sounds pretty cool. It's got a strong, snap to the name that just fit's the Hollow part of Zangetsu.<p>

So far the hardest part is keeping Grimmjow his usual, strong, abrasive self while still forcing himself to submit. It's an EPIC challenge and I am loving it, when I am not ready to pull my hair out in frustration.

Next Chapter: The explanation as to what, why and how it all happened, honestly this time. I think you will all find the idea intriguing, refreshing, and actually making a lot of sense in the cannon universe.


	4. Explanations

Explanations

Grimmjow woke up slowly, no longer surprised he had felt safe falling asleep here. His system had taken quite a shock and he would be sleeping a fair bit while his system assimilated the joint reiatsu and DNA encoding his body had absorbed from the mating. Since this was Ichigo's den, his instinct automatically assured him he was safe here.

He was curled up against something warm and he jerked back in surprise when he realized he was no longer alone in the bed. His retreat took him right over the edge of the small bed and with a startled yelp he landed in an rather undignified, naked heap on the floor.

Ichigo bolted awake in surprise as well at the cry, leaving the two of them staring at each other in awkward silence. Grimmjow forced himself into a more dignified position and rubbed his aching back while Ichigo ran a hand behind his head.

"So, uh, did you have a good nap?" Ichigo was the first to break the silence.

"It was alright," he answered reluctantly.

Grimmjow forced himself to his feet and grabbed his hakama to pull on so he wasn't standing there naked. Not that Ichigo hadn't already seen and touched all of him, but having clothing on made him feel less vulnerable and more in command of the situation.

"How long do you plan on staying?" Ichigo asked.

"At least two months," he answered honesty.

Ichigo stared at him in pure shock.

"Two months?" he stuttered. "Not that I mind the company mind you, but why so long?"

"Because I don't have much of a choice," he snapped irritably.

Ichigo blinked in surprise at the venom he had let slip. Grimmjow ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Fuck," he cursed, "get dressed and meet me downstairs. We got something important to talk about," he ordered, turning about and storming his way down the stairs.

Kami this was going to suck. Why the hell was it his responsibility to tell the boy what he had done? By his own words it was Kurosaki's hollow who had pushed him into the mating. The damn hollow should have to explain what the hell had happened, not him. He had just wanted some fun. He'd had no intentions of actually Mating.

He collapsed on the couch and let out a loud, frustrated groan. How the hell had things turned out this way? The last thing he had been expecting when he had shown up this time to beat the living crap out of Kurosaki was that they would end up Mating.

Not that the thought hadn't crossed his mind lately, but he hadn't been ready to bring it up. Now he didn't have the choice. As if to slap him in the face with the reminder, his stomach gave another surge of discomfort.

He held back a groan of frustration and forced himself to sit up straight as Ichigo came down the stairs wearing nothing more than a pair of tight jeans, leaving his rather toned chest bare.

He tried to control his hunger as Ichigo stalked over to the couch across from him, moving like any powerful predator would and demanding attention. The worse part was that he swore Kurosaki did so without even realizing it! Bastard.

"So… why two months?" Ichigo asked, leaning forward on his seat.

"Because I wont be able to safely go too far from you until this is finished," he answered reluctantly.

"Until what is finished?" Ichigo asked, frustration evident in his voice, "and why would it be dangerous to leave my side?" he added.

"Do you understand what we did last night?" Grimmjow demanded.

Ichigo jumped a little in surprise at the bark in his tone.

"Are you upset about sleeping with me? Because it seemed mutual to me," Ichigo snapped back.

"No. Yes. Sort of. Fuck it," he snarled, surging to his feet and starting to pace like the caged animal he felt like. "No, I do not regret sleeping with you, but I didn't want it to come to this," he snapped in agitation.

"Come to what?" Ichigo asked, his voice a mixture of anger and confusion. "Do you regret sleeping with me or not?" Ichigo jumped to his own feet so they were face to face.

A look of rage and hurt was warring over Ichigo's features. His Alpha was angry and despite himself Grimmjow found himself instinctively stooping a bit to make himself seem smaller and obedient.

"I do not regret sleeping with you, the sex was great. What I didn't expect nor want was to bloody well Mate with you at this time," he answered in a more submissive tone.

"Huh?" Ichigo looked at him confused. "Uh, Mate?" he questioned. "You don't mean like marriage do you?" he demanded shocked. "I mean, do hollows even get married?"

"No, not marriage," he snapped irritably.

The danger seemed to have passed and his Alpha no longer appeared to be angry. He could see the trace of gold in Ichigo's eyes, letting him know without a shadow of a doubt that the Hollow was carefully watching everything that was going on.

"And no, we don't get married," he answered the second question. "Such sentimental crap is for humans and Shinigami. We may find a partner we will stay with for some time if we deem them worthy enough for subsequence Mating," he explained.

Ichigo continued to stare at him in confusion. Clearly Kurosaki still didn't understand just what it was he was trying to convey. Kami, he wasn't even sure how he was going to begin to explain such a difficult concept to Kurosaki.

It wasn't like Hollows produced offspring like Humans or Shinigami did. No, it was a much more different sequence of events.

"Sit down Kurosaki," he ordered as firmly as he could, forcing himself to sit down as well.

(POV)

Ichigo did as requested, but the sense of dread he had been feeling since Grimmjow said he wanted to talk to him grew exponentially. Something was definitely going on, and he had a feeling that he wasn't going to be prepared for whatever it was.

Grimmjow's behaviour was erratic and confusing as well, throwing him off. One minute he seemed pissed, the next scared and surprisingly submissive. It was not helping the situation any, but at least he was relieved to discover that he wasn't accidentally married to the Espada, but the way the other stressed and used the word 'mate' left him feeling very apprehensive.

"Kami, where do I start?" Grimmjow growled in frustration.

There was no doubt about it, the Espada was highly flustered and, as surprising as it was to notice, he also seemed very nervous. That did not help his own feelings of frustration at all.

"Alright, what do you know of Hollow evolution?" Grimmjow finally asked.

"Not much," Ichigo reluctantly admitted.

It wasn't like he spent much time learning about Hollows, not to mention Rukia's so called 'educational sketches' had made things far more confusing than they had helped.

"Oh kami," Grimmjow moaned in clear frustration. "Okay, most Hollows when they become one sit about in Hueco Mundo and you never hear from them. However, some have a rather large hunger that can not be appeased and they gather together to fight and consume each other….

Ichigo listened to the story in shock as Grimmjow related just how one rose to the rank of Adjucas, and beyond that, to Vasto Lorde.

"So, you are made up of hundreds of souls meshed together?" he asked just to clarify.

In all honesty his mind was reeling with the information.

"Technically we are sexless because we are made up of hundreds of individuals; in fact as Adjucas we lack separate 'sexual components' as you know it. We don't gain back a true sense of 'sexual independents' until we evolve into high level Adjucas, Vasto Lorde, or Arrancar."

"So, until than you are sexless?" Ichigo asked shocked.

"Sort of. Whatever sex the dominate soul is will still give a sense of gender, so **emotionally,****"**Grummjow stressed the word, "an Adjucas is easily male or female, but as far as the body goes they are more or less the same sex as humans would understand it."

"Like a neutered animal," he questioned, trying to wrap his brain around the concept.

"Yeah, sure let's run with that for now. However, as I am sure you have noticed, even neutered animals can feel the need to breed and they occasionally do. Instinct can only be so repressed. Ya follow?"

"I think so," he admitted.

It was a bit difficult to wrap his brain around the concept, and he had a feeling Grimmjow wasn't done yet. The glee he was feeling from his hollow half did nothing to alleviate the feeling of anxiety that was rapidly growing in his chest.

"Alright. Now for the more complex part," Grimmjow leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes in obvious mental pain.

Oh that did not bode well at all and his Hollow's laughter started to ring in his ears as well until, surprisingly, the old man shut him up. Somehow Ichigo felt that was going to be the only sense of relief he was going to be getting any time soon.

"When Hollow's Mate we do not just toss out sperm as you know it, we ejaculate a clear fluid containing our DNA and large traces of our reiatsu. Both 'sexes' ejaculate the same mixture until they evolve past the 'neuter' stage of our existence and gain separate sexual independence, which occurs at the top end Adjucus and Vasto Lorde stages.

"The receiving partner takes the reiatsu and DNA, merges it with their own and reforms it into a new being. After a month the reiatsu and DNA has formed into a sort of egg and is expelled from the parenting body to finish maturing before hatching. Sometimes the parents, either one or both, will guard the egg after it is laid, other times they will leave it buried in the sand to fend for itself."

Ichigo wasn't sure he was quite computing what Grimmjow was saying. Merging reiatsu? Laying eggs? Why on earth was Grimmjow even telling him this anyway? Was the Espada interested in 'Mating' with him?

"**_Too late King_,"** his hollow's voice chose that moment to cackle hysterically into his ear.

Horrified dawning came upon him as he shot a shocked and terrified gaze at the Espada. Grimmjow wasn't even looking at him anymore. The Espada was looking at his own stomach, wrapped up in one arm with a look of discomfort on his face.

"_You knew!"_ he accused his hollow half.

"_**Of course I knew what was happening King. It was inevitable. When two high powered hollows like yourselves meet and can't bring themselves to consume each other, than the only other possible outcome is Mating."**_

"_None of this would have happened if you hadn't pushed for it,"_ he snarled. "_I knew I shouldn't have trusted anything you had to say._"

"_**If you hadn't listened to me YOU would be the one in his place KING,"**_ Hollow Zangestsu roared back angrily. _**"Only one can be dominant, to be the Alpha, and I refuse to be apart of anything not dominant.**_**"**

Would Grimmjow have, for lack of another word, 'impregnated' him without even warning him what they were doing? No, he didn't think so. Last night was a lusty haze, but he did recall that he had been the one to push for penetration of any sort.

Wait a minute. If had come out dominant and Grimmjow was telling him all this despite the fact he was clearly uncomfortable with the conversation….

"Are you telling me you are pregnant?" he blurted out in shock.

"Something close to it," Grimmjow admitted with a displeased hiss. "Right now our joint reiatsu and DNA is swirling about in my stomach and forming into a reiatsu based egg."

"Does it hurt?" he couldn't help but to ask concerned.

"No, it's just rather uncomfortable and strange." Grimmjow admitted with a wince.

"So, do you already have any children?" he couldn't help but to question curiously.

"No. Anyone I have ever attempted to Mate with over the years never survived the process," he snorted. "Weak fuckers," he muttered.

Ichigo couldn't help but to feel a bit of pride at that. He had managed to do something others had not. The unexpected compliment left him feeling pretty good. At least until the last little thing about this entire situation finally registered in his brain.

"Oh Shit," he cursed, clutching his head in shock.

"What?" Grimmjow demanded worriedly.

"You…. We…." he couldn't finish the sentence and he felt his brain shut down in shock.

It was obvious when Ichigo lost his mind. His eyes went wide momentarily before they went completely blank. Grimmjow held back the urge to reach over and strangle him and settled for sighing in exasperation.

He really did have a perchance of getting himself into trouble, and he almost blamed his feline nature for it. His attention went back to Ichigo as he noticed the other had suddenly moved.

He didn't have time to even flinch before he found himself pinned to the couch. Wild, golden eyes stared mockingly into his own. He snarled at the other threateningly but didn't attack just yet.

"_**Hello pet. Unfortunately you seemed to have broken King's mind, so I come out to play and keep you company."**_

"Ichigo?" he questioned worriedly.

"_**Trying to cope with the fact he's going to be a daddy. He will be out of it for a while, leaving us free to play,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu smirked at him, bringing their bodies closer and rubbing his obvious arousal against the trapped Espada.

"Get the fuck off of me," Grimmjow snarled, attempting to sit up.

"_**I don't think so,"**_ the other adjusted his grip and kept Grimmjow pinned to the couch. **_"King got to play with you already Pet. I want my turn now."_**

"Fuck that. You may be in the same body, but you are not the Alpha," he snarled, trying to throw the other off of him.

Regrettably, most of his reiatsu was going towards creating the new life in his stomach and as such he was at half power. His assailant, on the other hand, was at full power and had no difficulty holding him in place pinned to the couch.

"Get the fuck off me," he snarled again.

"_**I don't think so,"**_ his assailant sneered.

The hollow snagged both of his hands and yanked them painfully behind his head before catching them both in one hand as well as a fist full of hair, jerking his head back to expose his throat.

"I said get the fuck off of me bastard," he snarled, bucking and struggling against the other's hold to no avail and fighting back the fear that was slowly starting to crawl up his chest.

He froze and the fear skyrocketed when he felt the other's teeth at his expose throat. Unlike the thrill he had gotten when Ichigo had been the one to nibble his throat, this time he felt something akin to terror as his assailants teeth grazed threateningly against his flesh.

He clenched his eyes and hands as he waited for those teeth to pierce his throat. The body pinning his suddenly shuddered and the grip on his wrists and hair loosened. He snapped his eyes back open and stared at Ichigo.

His entire body was trembling with his head thrown back and eyes closed.

"I said, get lost," Ichigo suddenly snarled and jerked away from Grimmjow's body.

The teenager convulsed again before his body suddenly went still. Despite himself Grimmjow remained apprehensive and almost afraid to breath, let alone move. Ichigo, or at least his body, slowly returned his attention to the Espada.

It was with relief that a familiar scowl and brown eyes met his gaze.

"Sorry about that," Ichigo apologised, but still hadn't moved to untangle their bodies.

Silence settled between them as he regained his composure.

"Can you get off of me now?" Grimmjow demanded once he had successfully reigned in his racing blood.

"Oh. Sorry."

Ichigo moved off of his body and he found himself breathing slightly easier. The entire incident left him feeling rather shaken as it served to remind him just how weakened he was going to be over the next month while his reiatsu was drained to assist in forming the new life.

"So….. We are having a child?" Ichigo broke the silence, shock and disbelief very evident in his voice.

Grimmjow sent him a glare and resisted the urge to kill him, but oh it was so very, very tempting.

(POV)

This was not happening. This was definitely not happening. But it was. No amount of wishing, eye opening and closing, or pinching changed the fact that Grimmjow was sitting across from him in a clearly pissed, yet curiously submissive, manner. Nor did it silence the hysterical laughter of his hollow.

He was way too young to be a father! He had never even started to consider having kids. What were his friends going to say? His family? How was he even going to raise the child when he was still in school himself?

And even though he was clearly displeased at being impregnated, why was Grimmjow taking this all so well? He actually expected the Espada to be a lot more furious, but the other male seemed to be taking the situation a lot better than he was.

"You seem to be taking this alright," he noted.

"Instinct," Grimmjow growled, and then suddenly sighed in frustration. "You probably haven't noticed my reiatsu is significantly lower, have you?" he questioned.

No, in all honesty he hadn't and something in his posture or expression must have given it away because Grimmjow continued before he could respond.

"Until the egg is laid my own reiatsu is going to be depleted, and continue to deplete as it forms the child. My scent has changed as well. Every Hollow in a fifty kilometre radius is going to be after me," he admitted reluctantly.

Ichigo understood that, and what the Espada was covertly asking for. His desire to remain suddenly made a lot of sense, but Ichigo was still reluctant to let him stay here while at the same time the thought of letting the Espada out of his sight now that he was apparently going to be having his kid went against every ounce of his instinct to protect those that meant something to him.

He also understood just how much Grimmjow had just bent his pride to ask for help, as inadvertent as the asking may have been, but if the Espada's scent was going to be attracting every hollow for kilometres just staying here would put his family at risk, and that was something he could not do to his sisters no matter the cost. His old man, on the other hand, could suffer.

Ichigo stewed over the dilemma but wasn't having much luck coming up with an acceptable solution. Planning was more along the lines of something Ishida or Kisuke did…. Kisuke! No doubt he could come up with something, maybe make a gigai or something to hide Grimmjow's scent. Than they could come up with some harebrained story to get him to stay within sight.

"I think I know someone who can help us. Are you up for a walk?" he questioned.

"I am not helpless yet," Grimmjow snorted in a clearly pissed and affronted manner, getting to his feet as if to prove the point.

"Yet?" Ichigo couldn't help but to comment.

Grimmjow bristled in clear displeasure, but eventually sighed and answered.

"In a few weeks my reiatsu will have depleted to nearly nothing and I will be weakened," he reluctantly admitted. "After the egg is laid I wont be able to wander far and it will take some time, and a lot of food, to get my strength back up."

"What kind of food?" Ichigo couldn't help but to question hesitantly, for he had a feeling he already knew, and didn't like, the answer.

"My kind of food," Grimmjow answered before turning away and heading back up the stairs to grab his black boots from where they had been kicked off on the floor.

"_Hopefully we can find a solution to that too,"_ he hoped wishfully.

* * *

><p>hug to all of you that took the time to review. Believe it or not but reviews really do get the typing fingers going and leaves the author with a sense of accomplishment that pushes us to try harder, and sometimes even motivates our muses.

As much as I would love to have every chapter have the two boys going at it like rabbits in heat, that does get boring pretty quick and doesn't do much for the story line, and while smut is fun to read, smut without a story can get pretty tedious as well.

It is getting difficult keeping Grimmjow in character and submissive at the same time, but I welcome the challenge, when I am not slamming my head against a wall in frustration.

Next Chapter: Ichigo goes to Kisuke to see if there is anything the ex-Shinigami can do to assist them with their dilemma. While there wont be smut in the next chapter, there is some in the chapter after.


	5. Solutions

Solutions

Ten minutes later found them just entering the ally that housed Urahara's shop. Ichigo approached it nonchalantly with his hands shoved in his pockets while Grimmjow almost seemed to be dragging his feet unhappily.

"_If he didn't want to come, why didn't he say something earlier?"_ Ichigo groused.

"_**Because he can't King,**_" Hollow Zangetsu spoke up, pulling a scowl onto Ichigo's face.

"_What do you mean by that?"_ Ichigo demanded.

"_**You came out on top, you are the Alpha. If you wanted to fuck him right now all he could do was ask in what position you want him in,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu cackled in delight.

As much as the thought sickened him, the mental image that quickly came to mind brought a blush to his cheeks.

"_That…. you…"_ he spluttered in anger, _"that is disgusting!"_ he settled for.

"_**Really king? You didn't seem to have any problems ordering him to let you fuck him this morning before pounding into Pet's ass like a bitch in heat,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu taunted.

"_Enough_," Zangetsu spoke up before Ichigo could make the rather furious response back that he wanted to. _"__What__'__s done is done. What have I told you, Ichigo?__"_ he demanded.

"_Always look forwards, don't look back. If you hesitate too long and fear everything you will help and save no one,"_ he responded automatically.

He felt the satisfaction from his Zanpakuto at his response and his Hollow half remained blissfully silent for the rest of the trip. He was still furious with his Hollow half, not only because he refused to shut up, but because he had taken control of his body.

He was still smarting over that, and was honestly almost as pissed about it as he was scared. It had been a long time since he had lost control like that, and it was terrifying to think it could happen again, that the next time he might not be able to stop it before his Hollow managed to do something terrible.

He wasn't actually worried his hollow half would kill Grimmjow, in some ways that would have been more relieving, but it was clear his Hollow had no qualms about forcing himself on the other, and from what Ichigo had managed to understand about the situation, Grimmjow would probably not even fight back. The thought of someone as powerful and prideful as Grimmjow was silently remaining still while he was raped left a very sick feeling in Ichigo's stomach.

"_If you ever try and force yourself on him, I swear I will find a way to destroy you,"_ he promised coldly.

He felt his Hollow still at the threat, and after a moment he felt the other retreat, leaving Zangetsu as the only one whose presence remained at the back of his mind, an extremely comfortable feeling.

Ichigo was honestly surprised not to see the two children that lived with Kisuke working out front of the shop as they approached. The door was open and as they stepped into the shop they spotted Kisuke waiting for them.

"Let me guess, you already know everything," Ichigo scowled at him.

Kisuke whipped out his fan and began to fan himself rather vigorously while attaching a wide smile to his face.

"Now what makes you think that?" he asked innocently, his eyes darting to the silent Espada standing behind him.

"Because if Ishida could figure most of it out, than you probably got it all," he snapped in irritation.

"You flatter me, Kurosaki-kun," Kisuke beamed happily, snapping his fan shut and rising to his feet.

Behind him, Ichigo could feel Grimmjow's displeasure rolling off of the Espada in waves. In fact, he half suspected the other was ready to either bolt or tear into Kisuke to remove a perceived threat.

"Why don't you join me for a cup of tea and….."

"No!" Grimmjow suddenly growled with a sharp snap, interrupting Kisuke and causing Ichigo to jump a bit in surprise at the sudden venom and loathing the other was exuding.

Kisuke pulled his hat down, shading his eyes and stared at the Espada silently for a moment before speaking again.

"Of course. Perhaps coffee would be better," he offered.

"Coffee?" Grimmjow questioned.

"Coffee it is than. Perhaps with a bit of catnip," Kisuke questioned, once more back to his goofy self while Ichigo tried to figure out what the hell had just occurred.

"Fuck no. That stuff taste like shit. Bloody Nnoitra tried to get me to eat it one time, dumb ass," he growled as they followed Kisuke further into the shop.

Some of the tension seemed to have been relieved, and a fair amount more left as they sat drinking the coffee Kisuke had prepared. Ichigo wasn't much of a fan of the bitter stuff, but Grimmjow seemed to like it.

"So, what can I do for you?" Kisuke asked once they had all calmed down and felt slightly more at ease.

"I don't even know where to start," Ichigo sighed in embarrassment, tossing a look at Grimmjow.

The other glared back at him before sighing in frustration and turned his attention to the former Shinigami sitting across from them.

"How much do you know about Hollow Mating?" he questioned.

Kisuke's eyes widened in complete shock and his entire body actually froze as he stared at them in disbelief. It took almost 30 seconds for him to regain his composure.

"Not much I am afraid. Soul Society didn't find the need to research it, and given how dangerous it would be to 'go out into the field,' funding for such research was never approved. From the research done on the Hollows Soul Society has managed to capture and study over the yeas, it was determined that, physically speaking, Hollows have no gender and thus the very idea of offspring was impossible, even if you happened to find one with parental instincts," Kiskue answered honesty.

"Well, ya got some of it right," he grunted. "Here's the rest."

Kisuke leaned forward eagerly as Grimmjow reiterated everything he had told Ichigo earlier. Ichigo did not like the excitement that was quickly rising in Kisuke, it made him feel rather uncomfortable.

"So what happens after the egg is laid?" Kisuke asked eagerly.

"It should hatch after a month, and the cub will be hungry and needing to eat,"

"So, no breastfeeding than hmm?" Kisuke asked amused.

"No, it will be born ready to eat meat and capable of hunting the small animals that roam the desert."

"You mean like that small lizard we saw?" Ichigo asked.

He realized after saying it how stupid he sort of sounded seeing as how neither of these two were there when Chad, Ishida and himself first entered Hueco Mundo.

"Yeah, something like that," Grimmjow answered. "Not everyone sticks around after laying. Staying in one spot is dangerous if you don't got the sire around to defend you and bring you food."

"So if the sire does stick around, than the 'mothering parent' is more likely to remain?" Kisuke asked curiously.

"Yeah. Otherwise by the time the egg is laid you are too damn hungry and depleted to stay in one spot to guard it. You need to eat or you will start to regress, and quickly. So you burry it in the sand and go your way. If it's lucky, it will survive, if not, oh well," Grimmjow shrugged.

"And if you had managed to top Ichigo, would you have stuck around?" Kisuke asked seriously.

Ichigo was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the conversation, and the last question caused a fair amount of inner turmoil as he waited for Grimmjow's answer. Kiskue was also staring at Grimmjow with a rather serious expression on his face, one Ichigo didn't see the Shopkeeper use very often.

"Of course I would," Grimmjow snorted. "I am far more evolved than those pussy ass weaklings. Stupid fuckers just couldn't survive the damn Mating," he growled in obvious agitation.

Ichigo looked at the Espda in surprise, not because of the venom in his voice, but because of the small hint of regret, possibly even loss, he had picked up. Kisuke must have picked it up as well, for it was the Shopkeeper that was daring enough to ask the question Ichgio was also suddenly desperate to know and yet to scared to ask.

"How many have you lost over the years, Grimmjow?" Kisuke asked softly.

"I don't know, fifteen, maybe sixteen. I gave up trying after a while. No one was strong enough to survive Mating with me so what was the point in wasting a meal?" he snorted in disgust, poorly hiding the faint trace of regret and lose.

He was doing his best to hide it, but Ichigo could clearly see that this was a very touchy subject for the Espada and not one he wanted, not was ready, to talk about. Maybe later, but not right now and not to someone like Kisuke.

"I see," Kisuke took a sip of his coffee. "So you must be positively thrilled to have succeeded this time!" Kisuke cheered happily.

Both of them spluttered in surprise at Kisuke's sudden excitement.

"Kurosaki-san will be pleased to learn he is going to be a Grandfather, but aren't you a bit young, Kuros….."

"Don't talk about it that way!" Ichigo scowled as he nailed Kisuke on the top of the head with his fist, hard.

Kisuke retreated to a corner pouting with fake tears streaming down his face and clutching his head.

"What's all the commotion?" a new voice entered the fray.

"Yoruichi-san, Kurosaki-kun is being mean to me," Kisuke sobbed as he clutched the squirming black cat to his body like a teddy bear.

His loving attention was rewarded with a swipe of sharp claws across the bridge of his nose. There was a moment of shock before he dropped Yoruichi, who landed gracefully on her paws, while Kisuke clutched his bleeding face and sobbed some more.

Grimmjow let out a bark of a laugh at Kisuke misfortune while Ichigo smirked in amusement.

"You're my type of cat," Grimmjow declared.

Yoruichi turned her attention to the Espada before shimmering and returning to her true form.

"For the love of god, Yoruichi!" Ichigo wailed, covering his quickly reddening face, "put some damn clothes on!"

"Definitely my kind of woman," Grimmjow laughed.

"Thank you, Espada," Yoruichi sent him a dangerous smirk, "but you ain't my type," she tossed over her shoulder as she retreated to find some clothes.

Kisuke regained control over his senses and Yoruichi returned a moment later fully dressed.

"So, can you help us or not?" Ichigo demanded once they were all seated again.

"I might be able to do something," Kisuke offered. "But in all honesty, Kurosaki-kun, returning to Hueco Mundo would probably be the better option. I would not want to risk putting him in a gigai. I should be able to come up with something to cover his scent from other Hollow's, but you do realize how Hollow's feed, right?"

"What of it?" Ichigo asked nervously.

"He means I live off of eating my own kind, and they need to be at least Adjucus class to sustain me. How many of them do you see running around here?" Grimmjow snorted.

"And worse, the further alone Grimmjow gets, the weaker he will become as his body draws more of his strength to create the new life. He will eventually reach a point where he will be unable to effectively hunt for himself without risking serious harm or death; meaning someone will have to do it for him," Kisuke said seriously.

Could he do that? Hunt down other Adjucus and drag them back to be eaten. The very notion made him feel sick to his stomach. Despite their violent nature they were still people.

"Also, recall the air here is very thin to a hollow, unlike Hueco Mundo which is thick with reishi. Staying here is like staying in a thin oxygen environment and will slowly sap his strength where as in Hueco Mundo just breathing will act like a sort of soft feeding," Kisuke added.

He did recall Ishida mentioning something about the air and how the little lizard could probably survive on it alone.

"How did Aizen feed you all? I don't remember seeing any prisoners or holding pens at Las Noches and with the sheer number of Arrancar there would have had to be hundreds kept for food," Ichigo suddenly demanded, desperately trying to think of a way out of needing to hunt.

That seemed to pique Kisuke's interest as well and he turned his attention to Grimmjow, clearly expecting an answer.

"He fed us some sort of food. I don't know what was in it, but it worked to curb the hunger. I know Szayel was experimenting with making different flavours since it was rather tasteless," Grimmjow answered with a shrug.

"Would any of it remain?" Kisuke asked suddenly curious.

"Possibly. No one really ate the stuff because they wanted to," he shrugged. "No one has been hanging out there much since Aizen's fall. Other than the Shinigami camp they got set up near Szayel's old lab nothing wants anything to do with the place."

"Yes, I can understand why Kurostuchi would be reluctant to give up such a treasure trove of information. Still, I wonder if the Sotaichou knows about the continued operations," Kisuke mused. "Would the 'food' be near the lab or far enough away to retrieve some without drawing attention to yourself?" he asked.

"Possibly," Grimmjow said slowly. "The food stores are on the other end of the complex but Szayel had security monitors set up all over the place and if those damn Shinigami got into that system and are monitoring it they might spot any intruders. Not that they are any threat to me," he sniffed, "but in my weakened state and with enough numbers they could be an annoyance," he finished reluctantly.

He did not like to admit being weak, but there was a difference between putting up a strong front and being stupid. While Ichigo was horrible at sensing reiatsu, most Shinigami were not and he could tell that Kisuke already knew just how weakened he already was.

"I should be able to come up with something myself, but I would advice you to take a trip to Las Noches if you deem it safe enough and see if you can't get your hands on a store of it as it will take some time for me to make something useable. It's either that or start hunting, and I got a feeling Grimmjow is going to need a lot of food over the next two months."

The thought of hunting was not appealing.

"Can you still open a portal?" Ichigo asked Grimmjow.

"I could, but with my reiatsu so off it would possibly be unstable," Grimmjow answered reluctantly.

"I can make a portal, but it will take about a week. Will you be okay for that long?" Kisuke asked seriously.

"As long as I can eat the weak fuckers that show up around here I should make it that long," he assured them, "longer if Kurosaki lets me feed off of him if it gets too close," he added hesitantly.

Ichigo felt his eyes widen in shock at the idea shortly before the feeling of relief that perhaps he wouldn't need to hunt overcame him.

"Why can't we just do that instead of hunting?" Ichigo questioned.

"Because whatever I consume off of you is going to take a long time to return. We are not talking about eating some of your reiatsu, I am talking about eating a part of your _soul_, and souls take a long time to heal," Grimmjow snapped.

Obviously the idea didn't please him any either, granted if Grimmjow could eat the Hollow part of his soul it might be considered a blessing and very worthwhile.

"_**Awe King, you couldn't do that,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu complained. **_"Regardless of your feelings, you and I both know that I am a part of you, not matter what you think, say, or do,"_** he pointed out.

"_Don't tempt me,"_ Ichigo threatened before turning his attention back to Kisuke.

"Well, I will get working on the Garganta. I will send something by later to hide your scent. For now it should be alright and anything close enough to detect it would be a threat anyway," Kisuke stood up. "Or a meal," he added thoughtfully.

It was a clear dismissal and they stood up as well.

"Thanks Kisuke," Ichigo thanked, and meant it.

"No problem, and Kurosaki-kun."

"Yeah?"

"Congratulations on becoming a father."

Ichigo spluttered for a moment before sighing and thanking Kisuke.

* * *

><p>Wow, so many reviews, thank you all so much. As I stated before, Prize of Victory has my attention so this one may not receive regular updates as I do not have much worked on it at the moment.<p>

Pretty much all of the Arrancar are either dead or locked up in the 12th. I only have a small plot idea for this story as it was really only intended as a one shot for Black Storm, but for some reason I seem incapable of writing a one shot.

Next Chapter: More smut and Ichigo wrestling with his situation.


	6. Scent

Warnings: Sex and Language

Scent

Out of principle, Grimmjow didn't have much trust for Shinigami, nor scientists, so a Shinigami Scientist really brought his hackles up. But he could tell Ichigo trusted this one, granted only to a certain extent which made Grimmjow feel like his trust in Ichigo was at least somewhat well placed.

At least this one was going to assist them without being too intrusive, which he could tell the Scientist really, really, wanted to be. He could also tell that if anything were to happen to Ichigo, well, Grimmjow didn't want to be anywhere near Kisuke that was for sure. The man was dangerous in a way that reminded him of Aizen, and that was something he didn't want to tangle with ever again if he could avoid it.

It was a relief to get back to Ichigo's house and without a word he retreated to the bathroom to take a long shower. His skin felt off kilter after having spent an hour or so at the strange shop and he wanted to wash that feeling off. He also just wanted some alone time. He had let out some pretty personal stuff to complete strangers and it made him feel even more off set.

It was clear that Ichigo was not taking his impeding fatherhood well either, but at least Grimmjow knew the teen would most likely step up to the challenge once he was done having a minor freak out. Truthfully, he was barely holding back a freak out of his own, not because he didn't think he could handle raising and caring for the offspring, but because he was going to be so vulnerable and, for the first time in his life, he would **have** to rely on another.

Grimmjow was not someone who enjoyed relying on others. The very thought of it sickened him, but in this case he didn't have much of a choice. Pregnant Hollows were the equivalent of free food in Hueco Mundo, especially if the sire didn't stick around, which occurred far more often than not. Only higher level Adjucus and Vasto Lorde tended to remain together to raise the young before going their separate ways, or if the mate was acceptable they might stay together for some time to raise more cubs.

He had only ever come across a Mated pair once before and had wisely kept his distance. It was after that chance meeting the desire to mate had arisen in him. Now that he was with child he found he felt a bit of pride that he had successfully mated, granted it was only 'a bit' because he had somehow ended up on the bloody bottom.

So help him after this cub was born he was going to corner the Shinigami and make him submit. The next time around Kurosaki was going to be the one on the damn bottom if he had to break the hybrids arms and legs to do it!

He blinked at the thought, not because of the violence involved in it, but because the thought of breeding with Ichgio was one he didn't even have to think twice about. It wasn't even all about revenge either, that was just a very sweet, added in bonus. No, it was the simple fact that Ichigo was an acceptable carrier. And, he admitted very reluctantly to himself, if Ichigo did manage to come out on top again at least he knew he had been dominated by someone who was somewhat worthy and would see the Mating to the end.

With a groan he turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. To his surprise his clothes were gone and a towel had been laid out alongside a pair of Ichigo's clothes, clearly intended for him.

Apart of him was furious for failing to notice that someone had entered the room while another part was pleased he wouldn't need to put his uniform back on right away as he swore the smell from that shop had permeated into it. However, he had no desire to wear the teens clothing and settled for wrapping the towel around his waist before staring at the door as if it was one of the largest obstacles in his life.

He really did not want to deal with any of this shit right now, and the thought of curling up to mope in a dark corner was becoming really appealing. A quick scan of the house showed that Kurosaki was downstairs. Squaring his shoulders, he stepped out of the bathroom and headed towards the teens room.

He could hear the washer going as he made his way towards the teen's room and guessed that Ichigo must be doing a load, which no doubt included his uniform. It appeared to be getting dark out and despite the fact they really hadn't done that much today, Grimmjow felt completely burnt.

He was too damn tired and moody to waste time calling himself pathetic and weak and simply collapsed on the bed in both physical and mental exhaustion.

"_One day down, four fucking weeks of this shit to go,"_ he growled to himself as he curled up on the bed.

The bed smelt strongly of Ichigo natural musk, which was a surprisingly comforting thing right now. He found himself unconsciously nestling closer to the bed and eventually worked his way under the covers and curled up. His stomach felt off and it was warm and comfortable under the blankets. The scent of his Alpha was very comforting, as was the feeling of his reiatsu thrumming wildly throughout the house.

(POV)

Ichigo stared at his reflection in the window of the kitchen. The eyes that stared back at them were full of terrified, tormented confusion. He sighed and turned away from the image, not finding any answers in his reflection like he had hoped. He wasn't surprised, but he had sort of hoped all the confusion and turmoil his mind and emotions were going through would have found some form of inspiration in his reflection.

"_I really messed up this time. Kami what are my friends going to say? I am way too young to think about having kids, let alone one that is going to be as complicated as whatever Grimmjow is going to give birth to. I mean, everything is moving so quickly. I don't even know what I feel for him, or if we can even make this work and already we have a child on the way!_

"_Is he even going to stick around after the child is born or is he going to run off? He said Hollows don't generally stick around with each other after Mating, so what's to say he will? Granted, he did comment that some Hollows will stick with a partner if they deem the other worthy._

"_I mean, how could I explain to our child that their….. Father? ….. No, I guess I would be the father. Mother?…. That doesn't sound right either, he's not female. Mare?….. No that isn't right. What is the official term for a female cat anyway?"_ he wondered.

Curious as to the answer, and willing to take any distraction he could possibly get from the situation, he moved from the kitchen to the office and loaded up the computer. It didn't take long to get the answer and he almost burst into laughter.

"Yeah, I call him that and he will most likely castrate me, and he wont do it in my sleep either."

Apparently, a female cat was called a _Queen_, and given Grimmjow's insistence he was a _King_, Ichigo knew that was most defiantly not going to go over well with the Espada.

"_**There can only be one King, and you had better remain it…King,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu spoke up.

Ichigo scowled in annoyance and shut the computer down. The last thing he needed right now was to deal with his hollow half. He was not in the mood for it. Or maybe he was. He felt like he could blow of some major steam and getting in physical with his hollow half was very tempting.

It would let him burn off some energy while physically remaining nearby. He moved to the living room and sat down on the floor. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. This was something he never really did and he wasn't quite sure how to proceed.

Ukitake Jushiro had told him a little about it after rescuing Rukia and he followed the Taichou's instructions to the best of his ability. He cleared his mind and thought about his inner world: the skyscrapers, the blue sky, Zangetsu-Jiisan standing on his pole with his cloak fluttering in a breeze.

When he opened his eyes again he was standing in his inner world with his Shihakusho flapping in the breeze and his Zanpakuto strapped to his back. The sky was overcast to show his inner turmoil, but it wasn't pouring rain. That was at least a relief.

"Ichigo," Zangetsu greeted him.

"Jiisan," he returned the greeting.

"**Oi, no greeting for me, King?"** Hollow Zangetsu called.

"I will deal with you in a minute," Ichigo briefly turned his attention to the Hollow, a carbon copy of himself. "Sorry about the weather," he apologised.

"It is understandable," Zangetsu nodded at him. "You are here to train?"

"Yeah. I need something to distract myself with, and I should probably have been doing this anyway from what I recall Ukitake-san mentioning," he admitted sheepishly.

"Indeed. Prepare yourself Ichigo," Zangetsu ordered.

"**Get ready for it King. I ain't going to go easy on you,"** Hollow Zangetsu taunted.

"Good," Ichigo smirked, drawing the large blade from his back and turning to face his pale double.

The two clashed against each other violently, both of them with a smile on their face; one with an insane look of glee while the other had a small smile of excitement and relief. The only sound was that of Hollow Zangetsu's screams of enjoyment, Ichigo's grunts, and the clang of steel on steel as their blades crossed and sparks flew. Zangetsu himself remained a silent observer as the other two frantically crossed blades.

"**Ready to take it up a notch, King?"**

"Bring it," Ichigo snarled, adjusting his grip on his own blade as Hollow Zangetsu mirrored his move.

Both shouted out the release phrase and a wave of reiatsu, one black one white, washed over them. Uniforms and blades now a different color and shape, the two combatants once more launched themselves at each other.

Despite himself, Ichigo found he was having fun and that the battle had accomplished exactly what he had desired, freedom from his tormenting thoughts. The sky above completely cleared. After what felt like several hours, but in reality was only twenty minutes, the two finally came to a stop.

"**You are getting better King. About time you embraced your instinct to fight. The Pet's been good for ya."**

"Don't call him that," Ichigo growled.

"Regardless, he is right. Your companion has done you good, Ichigo. What are you going to do now?" Zangetsu asked firmly.

Ichigo sighed, dropping his Bankai state and returning the large blade to his back as he answered. "Take it one day at a time and do what needs to be done," he said firmly.

Zangetsu gave a nod of his head in acceptance of the answer while Hollow Zangetsu simply wished him luck, in a rather mocking way.

When Ichigo opened his eyes he noticed he was still sitting in the living room and not only reeked of sweat, but his clothing was beyond soaked with it. Scowling in annoyance, he slowly rose to his feet and headed to the bathroom. By the sounds of it Grimmjow _still_ wasn't done and he found his scowl deepening.

"_Is he going to use up all the hot water daily?" _he wondered with a grouch. _"I thought cats were suppose to hate water but he spends more time in there than Yuzu does."_

With a shake of his head he gathered Grimmjow's clothes up, made sure a towel and change of clothing was readily available for him, and retreated to the laundry room to start a small load. Both of their clothing needed a good wash.

He was in desperate need for a shower himself and contemplated kicking Grimmjow out, or possibly joining him. That thought brought a blush to his cheeks as he imagined what the Espada must look like with water rolling down his body.

He scowled as he found himself getting hard and quickly tried to change his thoughts, but it didn't work in the least. He mentally cursed his teenage body and almost sighed in relief when he heard the shower turn off. Right now he would be content if all that was left was cold water, because he was certainly going to need it.

Moving upstairs and into the finally free bathroom, he was surprised to notice that while the towel was missing, the clothing he had laid out had not been touched. A quick scan of the house confirmed that Grimmjow was now in his room, wearing nothing but a towel.

Cursing under his breath he quickly turned the cold water on and stepped into the shower, glaring down at his rebellious body that refused to obey any form of reason. If it was in anyway possible, his scowl deepened and he braced one arm on the wall of the shower and used his other hand to 'deal with the problem.' It didn't work very well, regardless of what mental image he used. Despite himself, he recalled his hollows words from earlier.

"_**If you wanted to fuck him right now all he could do was ask in what position you want him in,**__**"**_

He froze in horror as the thought touched his mind. That he would even consider such a thing made him feel sick, at least in his head. His body was all too quick to remind him just how good it had felt to be buried to the hilt in Grimmjow's body.

"_What the hell is wrong with me?"_ he questioned himself.

"_**You should mate him King, it would be for the best,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu spoke up, surprisingly without his usual, mocking tone.

"_What?"_ he demanded angrily.

"_**It's instinct, our instinct, that makes you want to fuck him again. The more you screw him, the more of your scent and reiatsu gets left behind as a sort of warning to other Hollows that he is yours and that to mess with him will also mean messing with you,"**_

Ichigo frowned. He really didn't feel like trusting his Hollow half, especially after what his advice had already caused to happened. Regrettably, there was only one other person he could ask to confirm Hollow Zangetsu's words and he supposed it wouldn't hurt too much to ask…. he hoped.

"_The worse he could do is say no,"_ he thought to himself encouragingly, and if he was honest with himself the thought of another round with Grimmjow was a very pleasing one.

Glaring at his obvious arousal that wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, he turned the taps off, dried off, and sought Grimmjow's reiatsu. To his surprise the Espada was still in his room and Ichigo made his way there. His surprise turned into shock as he realised the Espada was curled up on his bed under the blankets.

He sat on the edge and pulled the top up until he found Grimmjow's head. The Espada shifted and let out a sound of displeasure before blue eyes snapped open to look at him in irritation, an irritation that quickly turned to some unknown emotion as Grimmjow noticed his rather obvious arousal.

"The Hollow half of Zangestu mentioned something about scent marking and reiatsu signature. Is he trying to pull my chain or is he talking about an actual thing?" he asked half awkwardly and half embarrassedly.

"An actual thing," Grimmjow admitted reluctantly, his eyes drifting to the side and refusing to look at him.

Ichgio frowned. He did not like seeing the proud Espada acting so out of character. It was disturbing and wrong.

"_**Instinct**_," Hollow Zangestus spoke up. _**"**__**You are the Alpha. Until the Mating is over Instinct will force him deafer to you least he angers you and you leave him to fend for himself. As you can imagine, in Hueco Mundo that pretty much equates to death.**__**"**_

"_Like a form of pregnancy hormone?"_ he questioned.

"_**Yeah, sure. Go with that if it makes more sense to you."**_

It did make a little sense, but not much. It was rather painful to see a powerful and prideful creature like Grimmjow reduced to something like this simply because he was, well, pregnant.

"Do you want me?" Grimmjow suddenly asked in a strange voice.

Ichigo was broken out of his musings and felt a flash of pain at the sound of the others voice.

"Stop that!" he growled, causing Grimmjow to jump slightly. "And that too," he added. "For crying out loud, nothing has changed between us, so stop acting so out of character, it's creeping me out," he ordered sharply.

Blue eyes snapped up to glare balefully up at him.

"It's your fucking fault I am like this in the first place, Kurosaki," Grimmjow snarled, sitting up straight. "You are the one who did this to me in the first place, you and that fucking hollow of yours. Had you left well enough alone we would have just had a good night together and none of this would have happened, but no, you have to fucking initiate the fucking ritual and came out as the Alpha. The next time I swear to you, you will be the one to submit," he snarled.

"_**Punish him King, do not let him speak to you like that,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu snarled in anger.

Ichigo found himself raising a hand and got it halfway up before he froze and his eyes widened in shock as he watched Grimmjow actually flinch. He had merely meant to run his hand through his hair in exasperation, but the other acted as if he had planned to hit him. In his weakened state, that would have been far too easy.

"I am sorry, alright," he apologised, slowly lowering his hand. "I had no idea what was going on and if I had I never would have followed his advice. If you don't want to do anything that's fine. I was only asking because I didn't know if the bastard was lying to me or actually telling me something important I might need to know. Sorry if you got the wrong idea."

Grimmjow blinked up at him in confusion at his apology.

"This is all new to me, and other than what you have told me I don't understand a damn thing about what is going on. All I know is that somehow we are creating a life together, and I will do anything to protect it."

He almost added 'and you' but wisely held back the words. That would definitely set the other's hackles up and draw them into a fight he really didn't want to get into right now.

The confusion seemed to abate somewhat, as did the apprehension.

"Damn it, that fucking Hollow of yours is right," Grimmjow snarled, shifting about on the bed.

"Huh?" Ichigo blinked his eyes in confusion as he watched the Espada lay down on his stomach.

"Just shut up and fuck me already, Kurosaki," Grimmjow growled.

"Are you sure?" he asked shocked.

"Yes. Hurry up before I change my mind and decide to see if an Alpha can be dominated when the Beta has already conceived," he snarled in threat.

His body was definitely willing, but his mind was in conflict. This was different than the last two times. This time it felt like borderline rape, like Grimmjow was only doing this because he had to. Ichigo did not want their relationship to be like that, it was wrong. He refused to treat Grimmjow like some kind of object to use whenever he wanted sex.

Instead of just mounting the Espada, as he was clearly expecting, he reached for the drawer and pulled out his bottle of oil. Grimmjow remained silent and kept their gazes locked. A part of Ichigo was happy to see the defiance radiating out of them while another part of him wanted to change that defiance to pleasure.

He refused to make this into a show of dominance. If they were going to have sex together he was going to make damn well sure the other wanted it and wasn't only doing it because he felt he had or needed to.

He poured a generous amount of oil on his hands before setting the bottle down on his desk and turning his attention to the Espada laying prone on his bed. He shifted and noticed that, despite his strong words, Grimmjow still flinched slightly and nearly jumped when Ichigo set his hands down on the Espada's shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Grimmjow demanded.

"What I want," Ichigo answered as he worked the oil into the other's taunt back.

Grimmjow was a right royal mess and was so tense Ichigo swore a tightly wound spring had more give to it. Grimmjow remained that way for some time, but slowly his body relaxed as Ichigo worked his muscles, starting from his back and working his way down the Espada's arms and legs.

It took about an hour and he never once drifted near any part of anatomy that could be mistaken as sexual touching. When he was done the back he got Grimmjow to flip over and was amused to note the Espada's eyes were half closed and glazed in pleasure. Ichigo started from Grimmjow's feet this time and worked his way up. By the time he got to his victim's chest he noticed that Grimmjow himself was now heavily aroused.

Only now did Ichigo move his hands in a provocative manner, moving the oil soaked appendages over his targets nipples and flicking them lightly. Grimmjow let out a moan of pleasure and twitched under the assault.

Smirking and feeling hot and heavy himself now that he had the other worked up in very apparent arousal, he switched his assault to a more private part of Grimmjow's anatomy.

"Damn it Kurosaki!" Grimmjow cursed.

"How do you feel?" Ichigo couldn't help but to ask.

"I feel like if you don't fuck me now, I am going to throw you down onto this bed and show you how it's done," Grimmjow snapped.

This was more along the lines of the Grimmjow he knew, not that meek thing that had been presented to him earlier.

"_**Pregnancy hormones,"**_ Hollow Zangetsu piped up helpfully.

Ichigo ignored him and focused his attention on the Espada sprawled out before him, twitching in pleasure and letting out little pants and whimpers. Pouring another generous amount of oil onto his hands, he settled between Grimmjow's legs and used one hand to work his Beta's arousal while the other worked to prepare him.

"God damn it Kurosaki, when this is over and done with the torment I will lay upon you when I dominate your ass….." he never finished the threat as Ichigo's fingers found a part of his rear that cut his sentence off into a yowl of pleasure.

Grinning, he stroked that part again, earning another yowl of pleasure from the Espada and watched as Grimmjow thrashed beneath him. Grimmjow panted heavily and started making cute, not that he would ever tell the Espada they were cute, little keening noises between each torturous brush. Finally convinced he had tortured the other long enough, Ichigo removed his fingers and spread some oil on his straining erection before positioning himself at the panting man's entrance.

Blue eyes gazed hazily and lustfully into strong brown and Ichigo couldn't help but to smirk as he slowly penetrated the other. Grimmjow was panting heavily, his body soaked in sweat and oil that glistened in the moonlight now streaming through the window.

Ichigo didn't even recall the sun setting, but in all honesty the weather outside was the last thing on his mind right now. The only thing either of his heads was thinking about right now was the tight heat wrapped ever so pleasantly around him and the wonderful sounds his Beta was making as he thrust into the body pinned beneath him.

Grimmjow threw his head back and let out a loud moan, his neck flashing in the pale light. Instantly Ichigo's mouth was on it, suckling and nibbling the flesh, earning a shiver of excitement from Grimmjow. He had no idea what it was about Grimmjow's throat that called to him, but he just couldn't resist nipping and suckling on the flesh, leaving a very obvious red mark.

Growling and quickly losing his mind to instinct, he let his teeth sink ever so slightly into Grimmjow's skin, earning himself a surprisingly hot cry of pleasure/pain and the faint, erotic taste of the Espada's blood.

The taste sent him into a frenzy and before he knew it he was ploughing roughly into the body beneath his in a show of strength and dominance. The bed squeaked loudly in protest, but Ichigo ignored it. Nothing mattered right now other than the feel of the heat enveloped around him, the sight of his Beta's throat bared submissively for his pleasure, and the faint taste of blood in his mouth.

He never noticed Grimmjow's claws raking his back and arms nor had he any idea on how long he kept the brutal pace up. He had no recollection of when Grimmjow had cried out as he came. It must have been some time before he finally reached completion because the body beneath him was limp when the sparks finally flew and he felt himself come down from his instinctual high and return to reality. His hollow half was surprisingly quite.

He slowly untangled their bodies and the moment he was somewhat free Grimmjow rolled onto his side, facing away from him but didn't get up or make any other indication of wanting to leave. In fact, Ichigo swore he was actually asleep and had simply adjusted his position to give Ichgio some room on the rather small bed.

Pulling the tangled blankets up over their bodies, he hesitated only briefly before pulling the other into his grasp to share their combined body heat. It was still only Spring and it got cold at night. No way in hell was the barer of his child going to sleep cold.

* * *

><p>I am pleased you are all loving this and thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews. They truly make me push harder to write more, and thus update regularly.<p>

It is hard to keep everyone in character so I hope the whole 'pregnancy hormones' and 'instinct' is a good enough excuse for some of the more submissive behaviours Grimmjow is, and in the future, exhibiting. It actually does make sense when you think of how many animal species do things.

I am also on the fence when it comes to Mpreg, but I figure what I have planned here will actually make a fair amount of sense. I don't plan on drawing this story out, I am hoping for no more than twenty chapters, but if you have ever read some of my other work, especially Prize of Victory, you will know small stories are not my forte.

Next Chapter: Hollow Zangetsu gets a name of his own and Ishida comes over in an attempt to study.


	7. Attempted Study Session

Attempted Study Session

Grimmjow's eyes opened once he was certain Ichigo had fallen asleep. Such a pathetic trick like pretending to sleep generally went against his principles, but he really had no interest in talking right now and his body was fairly sore from the pounding he had received.

Granted it was a pleasurable sore and one he definitely didn't mind. Ichigo was quickly gaining a hand on how Hollows tended to mate and he wondered briefly if it was simple instinct that was leading Ichigo or if he had been following the Hollow's instruction.

He was pretty sure the teen had been completely dominated by instinct, seeing as how he had made no protest to his back being shredded. In fact, he swore the teen lived for the pain as much as he loved his throat being lightly mauled.

A hand touched his throat, recalling the feeling of teeth grazing and nipping it had so pleasantly received. A small amount of blood appeared on his fingers and he couldn't help but to lick them clean.

The thrill of danger was so intoxicating that he couldn't help but to admit that, somehow, Ichigo knew just how to push his pleasure buttons. He wondered what kind of things he could do to the teen when it was his turn to dominate that would have the hybrid withering and whimpering beneath him.

At least the teen was interested in pleasuring him. As Alpha Ichigo didn't need to worry about any pleasure but his own and he had to reluctantly admit that things were not so bad, at least not yet anyway.

"**King is too soft on you, pet."**

Grimmjow stiffened as his thoughts were broken and the arm around him tightened to make sure he wouldn't, or more like couldn't, escape.

"What the fuck you want?" he growled in exhausted annoyance.

"**I want my turn,"** the Hollow complained.

Grimmjow stiffened in fear. In his current state he could do nothing to stop the other from taking him.

"**Fortunately for you, King said I couldn't,"** the arm holding him in place was suddenly removed as Ichigo's body stood up and stretched before looking over his shoulder at the quickly healing back.

He remained as still as he could be, not daring to set this powerful predator off and astonished at how fast the flesh had healed. Apparently high speed regeneration was an ability Ichigo had been holding out on him about.

"**Hungry? You should be after all the physical _exertion_ you have been putting out,"** Hollow Zangetsu laughed.

"Huh?" he asked smartly, the question taking him by surprise.

"**We both know Ichigo doesn't have the _heart_ to hunt properly for ya, he's still pathetically weak in that regard. Don't go too far pet. King said I couldn't fuck ya or deliberately hurt ya, but he didn't say I couldn't punish you for leaving the safety of the nest."**

And with that Ichigo's body leaped from the window and was gone. The Hollow wasn't gone long, and when he returned it was with food in tow, their kind of food. A part of him wanted nothing to do with anything the Hollow part of Ichigo's soul had touched, but the far more primal and instinctual part of him quickly kicked common sense back into the lead and he found himself devouring the offered meal, indicating how hungry he actually was.

"**Good Pet,"** the Hollow purred shortly after he had eaten every last piece of meat and bone that had been delivered to him.

"I ain't your fucking pet, so stop calling me that," Grimmjow snarled in anger.

"**So feisty. I love that. I hope King tires of you quickly so I can have you. I can't wait to train you properly, maybe snap a pretty little collar around you neck."**

"Ain't going to happen," he snapped. "The next time I am going to come out on top and Kurosaki will be the one on his knees before me, so keep dreaming H'tsu," he snarled.

"**H****'****tsu**?" the Hollow questioned intrigued, cocking his head to the side.

"You said you were the Hollow part of Zangetsu, that's too bloody long and annoying," he explained.

"**H'tsu. The shortened form of Hollow Zangetsu,"** he mused. **"I like it pet. For that, I will let you sleep unmolested tonight. You should be resting anyway. I wouldn't want to risk any harm coming to King's offspring."**

And with that H'tsu returned to bed and Ichigo's body fell once more into slumber.

"I ain't your bloody pet," he growled before reluctantly also returning to bed.

He hesitated briefly, not wanting to get within range of H'tsu, but there was nowhere else to sleep comfortably and he desperately needed sleep. He was hardly in bed before he found himself once more in Ichigo's grasp with the teen nuzzling his neck contently.

He felt his body give of a shiver in delight at the dangerous sensation before he quickly drifted off. There was just something about Ichigo's scent and the feeling of that powerful, thrumming reiatsu that calmed him. It tasted different than H'tsu's did. This felt safe and powerful while the other reeked of a dangerous violence.

(break)

The next morning Grimmjow woke up to find himself alone in bed. He felt a brief moment of panic as the fear he had been abandoned to fend for himself slammed into him, but it didn't last long before he felt the familiar pulse of Ichigo's reiatsu heading his way.

The door opened and Ichigo walked in with two things. The first was his uniform, clean and dry once more. The other was a cup, and judging by the smell coming from it, it was a cup of coffee.

"Good morning. I know you said you don't need to eat our food, but you seemed to like the coffee Urahara gave us, so I made a pot," Ichigo offered slightly uncomfortably.

It smelt divine and he all but snatched the cup from Ichigo's hand to cradle the warmth before taking a sip. Now if Aizen had served them this stuff than those meaningless meetings they had suffered through might have been slightly less annoying and almost worth going to.

"I have to head out soon. I got to meet up with Ishida to study, I am behind in my school work thanks to the war," Ichigo explained sheepishly.

A part of him didn't want his Alpha too far away for the sake of protection while the rest of him was silently asking why the teen hadn't left yet. It was rather frustrating. He hated not knowing what he wanted like some sort of woman.

At least there was one thing he did know he wanted, and that was more of the thing called 'coffee.' His cup was already finished and he looked up at Ichigo.

"You said something about a pot?" Grimmjow questioned, absently sniffing the air and catching more of that wonderful scent.

"Yeah, it's downstairs in the kitchen," Ichigo smiled softly.

He didn't need any more encouragement. He followed the scent to the pot, completely ignoring the fact he was walking around the house naked, and quickly poured himself another cup. He sighed in bliss at the flavour as it touched his tongue. Seriously, why couldn't Aizen have served them this stuff instead of that weakly flavoured water?

"You don't mind I am going to be gone for a few hours?" Ichigo asked.

That question again, followed by the uncertainty.

"I ain't the Alpha, do what you want," he grunted. "It's not like anything in this realm is a threat to me even in a severely weakened state," he pointed out more for himself than the concerned teen, although he would never admit it.

He did his best to force his body to relax, taking another soothing sip of coffee, but it did little to help alleviate his growing anxiety. Something in his posture or reiatsu must have given him away to Ichigo, because the teen was still hesitating.

"I could always ask Ishida to come over here and study instead," Ichigo offered hesitantly. "If you don't mind the company," he added.

It sickened him how quickly the idea made him feel better and he found himself nodding in agreement before he could process a thought. He hid his scowl behind the mug in his hand.

"_Fucking hell these hormones are driving me insane,"_ he snarled inward. _"I can't wait until this is all over. Than I am going to kick Kurosaki's ass across this town, Hueco Mundo, and possibly Soul Society for good measure, for doing this to me. The next time it is **so** going to be his ass that is fucked,"_ he vowed darkly. "_Repeatedly_," he added for good measure.

"Alright, I'll give him a call,"

Grimmjow ignored the teen and simply poured himself another cup before taking the pot with him up the stairs and back to his Alpha's den. He could feel his energy draining already and if he was going to stave off his hunger for the week it was going to take Urahara to build the Garganta than he was going to have to rest as much as possible.

The meal H'tsu had brought him helped a bit, but such a low level Hollow was the equivalent of eating a handful of crackers instead of a real meal. He could hardly even tell he had eaten anything at all.

He settled back onto the bed and set the pot on Ichigo's desk. He stared at his uniform and debated on getting dressed or not. It's not like he cared either way. Throughout evolution clothing was not really something any Hollow needs or wears until they reach either Vasto Lorde or the newly perfected Arrancar stage.

The uniform had been provided by Aizen, and even though he had designed something more for himself and honestly liked the design, the stark white of Aizen's colours did bother him at times.

It was sickening really. He hated Aizen with a passion and yet the man had given him an actual purpose in life and things to be proud of, like his former ranking. It all meant nothing now and yet he still found himself clinging to some of the things Aizen had given him simply because giving those last few things up left him with nothing. He no longer had a pack and had very little reason to get stronger now that he was pretty much the most powerful being in Hueco Mundo with the other Espada dead. He really didn't have anything in his old life left in whatever his current life was looking like now.

His phase as an Adjucus was over. His phase as Aizen's play thing was done with. As much fun as it was, he had noticed in the last few days that even his desperate sparing with Ichgio was beginning to become almost tedious.

His stomach gave a strange twist and he scowled at it for a moment before sighing and resting a hand on it. He did have one thing to look forward to. His life as one of the Espada was over and it was time to acknowledge that.

Taking a fortifying sip of coffee he ignored his uniform and stood up to start rooting about Ichigo's room without the slightest hint of hesitation or remorse. His own fastidious nature was pleased the teens room was fairly clean and organized for it made his rooting about that much more productive.

(break)

A knock on the front door announced Ishida's arrival and the Quincy let himself in after three strong taps.

"Kurosaki?" he called, stepping into the house.

"In the Dinning room," Ichigo called back.

Ishida removed his shoes and joined Ichigo, setting his bags of books down on the kitchen table before glancing up at the ceiling with a raised eyebrow.

"Domesticated now?" Ishida asked.

"Oh shut up," Ichigo scowled.

"Is there a reason he is staying here instead of returning to Hueco Mundo, besides the obvious?"

Ichigo's face took on a curious expression as he both blushed at the insinuation and had a look of mortified despair. It instantly set Ishida's mind racing.

"Kurosaki?" he questioned.

Ichigo groaned and collapsed into a chair, resting his head between his hands.

"Kurosaki, what happened?" Ishida demanded, sitting across from him worriedly and toying with his charm to summon his bow.

If Grimmjow had done something to his friend, regardless of the fact he would refute that Ichigo was his friend, the Espada would be one hell of a pincushion by the time Ishida was done with him.

"It's going to come out sooner than later, so I might was well tell you," Ichigo groaned. "Just…. promise you wont tell anyone else, okay? The only reason I am telling you is because you are probably going to figure it out anyway and I can't keep a secret for the life of me."

"I won't tell anyone," Ishida promised.

He was pretty damn worried now and felt himself gathering his power. He had no attachments to the Espada moving about upstairs and would have no qualms removing him from existence if the need arose.

"Did Grimmjow do something to you?" Ishida asked worriedly.

The quiet yet hysterical laugh Ichigo gave did nothing to help alleviate Ishida's growing apprehension.

"No, it's more like what I did to him," Ichigo answered cryptically.

(time)

"…. and that's apparently how it is," Ichigo finished exhaustedly.

Ishida was just staring at him in stunned shock while his mind attempted to process everything Ichigo had just told him. He swore he could actually feel and hear his brain reboot three times as it processed the information before finally getting the equation to work out and permit his mouth to finally work once more.

"He's pregnant?" Ishida couldn't help but to blurt out.

"Yeah," Ichigo answered.

"And you are going to be a father?"

"Yeah, I know. I am still trying to come to terms with it myself," Ichigo sighed in defeat, slumping pathetically in his chair.

"But…. he's a he and you're a he and…."

"Technically, Hollows are apparently physically genderless. I explained that bit already."

"So you are telling me he doesn't have the…. um….. you know… parts," Ishida murmured with an embarrassed blush.

"Oh no, he definitely has the parts," Ichigo answered with a deep blush of his own, "he is at the top of the evolutionary scale after all."

"It's a lot to wrap your head around. Does anyone else know about all of this?"

"Just Urahara. He said he will work on something to hide his scent from other Hollows. He suggested we go back to Hueco Mundo because the air there is more rich and food more plentiful."

"We, as in you as well?" Ishida questioned cautiously.

"Yeah. Look at his reiatsu, because I know you can. It's apparently suppose to get worse the further along he goes. I can't just abandon him and an innocent child, regardless of the fact it's my own, to a fate like that. He needs protection."

Ishida frowned, but conceded Ichigo had a point. He had thought that maybe Grimmjow had been sleeping and that was why his reiatsu had been so subdued, but now that he studied the Espada's reiatsu more closely he realized just how drained it was. If Grimmjow was expected to lose even more power than Ichigo was right, the Espada was going to need protection. Hueco Mundo had no patience for the weak.

"You are already behind in your school work, and now you are suggestion you take off for another month, maybe two," Ishida sighed.

"I know, but what can I do?" Ichigo questioned with a defeated, exhausted voice. "Hopefully Urahara will come up with those pills Aizen apparently use to feed them and we can return here."

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Ishida asked.

"You know me," Ichigo smiled weakly at him, "I always do what needs to be done regardless of what I want and help those that need it, regardless of the consequences."

"That you do, weather they want your help or not. You are a very stubborn individual," Ishida agreed, adjusting his glasses.

They both turned their attention to the entranceway when the sound of the stairs squeaking reached their ears. Ishida sat up straighter and took a somewhat defensive posture as Grimmjow appeared in the doorway wearing nothing but his white hakama tied rather loosely. One could even say they were on provocatively.

The Espada's eyes roamed over him briefly, clearly assessing any threat to himself, before that piercing, blue gaze turned to Ichigo.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked concerned.

In answer, Grimmjow held out an empty pot without saying a word. Both teens stared at it for a moment before Ichigo chuckled and stood up.

"Would you like another pot?" he asked.

"If you got more," Grimmjow shrugged as nonchalantly as he could.

"Yeah, I got more. It'll take about five minutes. Do you want to stay down here with us or do you want me to bring it up when it's done?" Ichigo asked.

"I can wait," Grimmjow snorted, pulling a chair out and collapsing in it before once more locking his gaze on the Quincy.

"Alright," Ichigo took the pot into the kitchen to get another one going.

Ishida and Grimmjow stared at each other while Ichigo was in the nearby kitchen. Both were studying the other, checking for any sign of a threat. This close Ishida was able to detect the secondary forming reiatsu inside Grimmjow and could actually sense the child, or whatever it was, draining the Espada sitting before him.

Ichigo was definitely right. If his power was already this drained after just a day than he certainly wouldn't last a week alone in Hueco Mundo, and not just because of the other Hollows. Ishida knew the Twelfth Division had a camp there and if Kurotsuchi got his hands on a pregnant Arrancar, well, Ishida didn't want to think about the consequences.

"Alright, the pot's going," Ichigo announced as he took his seat at the table again.

The two of them broke off their stares to turn their attention to the Shinigami.

"Good," Grimmjow grunted.

"Coffee?" Ishida questioned as he caught the scent of the brewing beans. "I thought you despised coffee Kurosaki."

"I am not a fan of it," Ichigo shrugged, "but my old man drinks it a lot when he's got late or long shifts and Karin likes to sneak some when she thinks no one is looking."

"Karin?" Grimmjow questioned.

"My sister, the black haired one," Ichigo answered.

"Ah her."

"Wait, how do you know my sister?" Ichigo questioned sternly.

Ishida was highly surprised to notice that the sharp bite in Ichigo's voice actually caused the Espada to actually flinch slightly.

"_Actually, I would argue that looks more like a cringe,"_ Ishida noticed. _"And did he just lower his posture?"_ the Quincy asked himself confused.

Yes, he was right, Grimmjow had dropped his posture at Ichigo's demand. Most would never have noticed but Ishida was a very observant person.

"You do know she can see me right?" Grimmjow questioned. "She was bitching at me to lower my reiatsu one day when I was waiting for you to get home from school so I could kick your ass because I was apparently giving her a headache."

"Is that why you always suppress it around the house?" Ichigo questioned surprised.

"Yeah. Girl's got some balls standing up to me like that. I think the blonde can sense me, but she sure as hell can't see me."

"Yeah, Yuzu never was able to see spirits. I had forgotten Karin knew about me. She confronted me before the war took off and never pushed for information when I got back. It just sort of slipped my mind," Ichgio sighed.

"Something you should definitely work upon, Kurosaki," Ishida couldn't help but to point up.

Ichigo tossed a scowl his way before given his head a shake with a sigh attached to the end.

"Whatever. Did you bring the books to study with or not?" he questioned.

"Yeah, hold on a second."

Ishida started to did through his bags, pulling out their text books and spreading them across the table. Ichigo grabbed one and pulled it over to himself, flipping the book open to find the last page they had been on.

"Chapter ten or twelve, I don't remember?"

"Twelve," Ishida answered absently, pulling out his notebook and finding the sheets with their assignments. "Okay, we finished the two reports for history, so all we got left is the short essay and we are all caught up on that subject," he reported. "We should start on Language Arts next."

"I hate that class. At least History can be interesting, but I can't stand poetry and that crap," Ichigo complained.

"You only hate it because your simple mind can not comprehend the beauty of it," Ishida taunted.

"Shit you sound like Szayel," Grimmjow complained.

Ishida froze at the comment, his body going ridged as an image of the pink haired scientist flashed across his mind. He had never been so close to death, nor had he ever been so humiliated as he had been when that creature had defeated him. And yet, when he thought about it, he had never felt someone had ever so much deserved his fate and yet had been repulsed by it.

It had to have been one of the worst ways to die for _nothing_ about it had been quick or painless. From what he understood from Kurotsuchi-taichou's explanation, it would have seemed to the Espada as if time had come to a near stand still so that the few minutes it had actually taken for death to claim the Arrancar would have actually felt like millennia to him.

"Ishida?" Ichigo asked concerned.

"My apologies," Ishida quickly regained control over himself, "I would thank you not to mention _him_ again."

"Him?" Ichigo questioned clueless.

"So you fought him huh? Must say I am surprised you survived. Szayel may not have been the strongest, but he had his tricks and he was definitely stronger than you."

Ishida felt a vein pop.

"Tricks was the only reason he managed to last against us," Ishida snapped, jumping to his feet in anger.

The room was once more starting to get heavy with tension and Ishida was starting to think that perhaps coming over was a bad idea. His sharp mind also caught something else of interest.

While he was ashamed that he had let control of his reiatsu slip during his outburst, he was shocked to noticed that Grimmjow had inched closer to Ichigo during it, and while the Espada still had a mocking smirk on his face, his body was acting completely different and looked ready to bolt from danger at a moments notice.

Ishida wondered if Grimmjow even realized how he was acting. He must have because he suddenly scowled and forced himself to sit more properly in his own seat. In the kitchen the coffee pot gurgled with that noise that meant it was pretty much ready.

"Coffee's ready," Ichigo broke the suddenly tense silence.

"Chu," Grimmjow snorted, standing up to retrieve the pot himself before retreated back upstairs.

Ishida forced himself to sit back down again and watch the Espada as he retreated. His entire movement spoke of a cocky arrogance, but he still walked in a way that made him look like he was ready to bolt at a moments notice.

Perhaps he should talk to Urahara when they were done studying. If it was anyone that knew what was really going on and could use 'real words' to describe it, it would be him. But for now, there was still a large number of over due assignments to catch up on.

With a sigh, he pulled a text book towards him and flipped it open.

"Chapter 12, right?" he questioned.

"Yeah," Ichigo answered.

Ishida turned his attention to studying. He did have a future to think about after all.

* * *

><p>Thank you so much for those of you that took the time to review, it really does mean a lot to me. If you recall, H'tsu was the name agreed upon earlier. It has a sharp, strong ring to it that is very fitting for a hollow. Shirosaki and Hichigo are so overused and honestly they kind of grate on my nerves a little. If anyone want's to use H'tsu as a name, go for it, just mention you saw it here first or something.<p>

Funny thing is, I hate coffee and love tea. You will notice that my own personal likes and dislikes will not affect how a character feels or responds to things. I do my best to keep them In Character and Grimmjow to me seems like a coffee fan.

Questions answered: While Grimmjow did have the shape of a panther, he is still a Hollow. So instead of hundreds of ways to mate and breed based on 'sub species' it was easier to treat them for what they are, a single race.

Yes, Grimmjow would feel very threatened if someone tried to take his Alpha's attention away. In the Hollow world the survival of the Beta pretty much comes down to the continued attention of the Alpha. If the Sire leaves, then the Beta is pretty much free food. It will be mentioned.

You will all have to wait to see how the 'egg is laid' but I promise you it will make complete sense and have nothing to do with biography as we know it.

Next Chapter: H'tsu tells Ichigo there is an alternative feeding plan to that of hunting without telling him what it is. One that Grimmjow wasn't willing to share with him and really doesn't want to utilize.


	8. Feeding

Warnings: Sex, sexual situations, and more sex. Some language. Are these warnings even necessary anymore?

Feeding

Ishida had just left over an hour ago. Despite the strange interactions earlier between Quincy and Espada, the two teens had managed to get a fair amount of their school work caught up, which was a relief. His family was due back tomorrow and school would be back in session the day after.

He still wasn't positive what he was going to do about that. Apparently Karin was already aware of who Grimmjow was and he had no doubt that his father would be able to quickly determine what he was.

But honestly, could he bring himself to tell his family that he was going to be a father? His own father was going to kill him, beat him into a red pile of mulch on the ground before whining to that stupid poster of their mother about how irresponsible his son was becoming.

Ichigo sighed in frustration. Why was his life always the one so messed up? Why couldn't he catch a damn break already? Wasn't it Ishida's turn to get some of this kind of crap thrown his way?

"_**Quit whining King. If you don't want him, I'll take him,"**_ H'tsu offered.

As if his day wasn't going bad enough as it was.

"_What do you want?" _Ichigo asked tiredly, in no mood to get into an argument tonight with his more vocal half.

"_**You have been neglecting Pet, leaving him all alone in your den all day. Your marking needs to be refreshed and you should probably feed him."**_

Ichigo blinked in surprise, for although the tone had been mocking, there had been an undercurrent of concern as well. Since when did H'tsu care about anything other than fighting and wanting the body their shared to himself?

Ichigo felt a blush light his cheeks at the mention of 'remarking' but scowled at the thought of 'feeding.' Feeding meant he would have to go hunting Hollows and would need to bring them back alive to be consumed. He was not sure he could do something like that. To him it felt like condoning cannibalism, because really, that is exactly what it was.

"_**If it makes you so queasy King, I can always do the hunting for ya," **_H'tsu offered eagerly.

"_No_!" Ichigo immediately countered.

"_**You don't need to be so touchy. I promise I'll only hunt Hollows,"**_ he promised in a rather fake voice.

"H'tsu giving you problems?"

Ichigo jumped in surprise and turned his attention to Grimmjow, who was leaning casually against the doorframe.

"What?" He asked smartly.

"Your reiatsu is in flux, I am asking if H'tsu is giving you problems," the Espada repeated.

"I…. yeah…H'tsu?" he questioned confused.

"Bastard needed a name," Grimmjow shrugged, moving away from the wall.

"Wait, when have you two spoken?" he demanded, feeling a stab of fear race through his chest.

Had his Hollow managed to escape other times that he was unaware of? The thought sent a chill racing up his spine. Had something happened already that he was unaware of?

"When?" he demanded sharply, both out loud and in his head.

"_**The first time you took him,"**_ H'tsu answered in his mind.

"Last night," Grimmjow answered at the same time.

Two separate answers for two different occasions, neither of which he recalled. The thought terrified him as much as it infuriated him. Furious, he forced himself into his inner world.

It was time to make it quite clear who's body this was and the fact that he would not stand for anyone taking it over without his permission. He didn't even hesitate the moment he was in his inner world. He tore after H'tsu before he was even fully phased in, taking his hollow half by complete surprise with his aggression.

On his pole even Zangetsu seemed astonished by the fury Ichigo was putting out. H'tsu was instantly on the defensive and was barely able to block the rain of blows coming his way. Dark energy swirled about them as they fought and for once the Hollow was too busy defending himself to throw out any taunts.

"Ichigo," Zangetsu called out after several minutes of the teen's fury not abating in the slightest. "Ichigo," he tried again when he was ignored.

When a third call did nothing to stop the onslaught, Zangetsu finally moved from his position and blocked the next attacks with his own body. Ichigo just barely managed to pull his swing and avoid hitting his Shinigami half and H'tsu's blade was blocked by Zangestsu's upturned wrist.

"Calm down," Zangetsu ordered firmly.

"I am killing him," Ichigo promised coldly.

"**You can't kill me, I am you,"** H'tsu snarled. **"And I am tired of being caged up all the time."**

"Enough of this for now. Ichigo, you are hurting your companion," Zangetsu declared.

"I plan on doing more than hurting him," Ichigo snapped.

"**He means Pet, King,"** H'tsu snapped back. **_"As usual your utter lack of control is hurting those around you,"_** H'tsu taunted.

Ichigo froze. He raced out of his inner world and snapped his eyes open, once more back in the kitchen. Grimmjow was leaning against the wall, panting for breath and looking rather weak.

"Are you okay?" he asked concerned.

"Fine!" Grimmjow snapped and forced himself to stand up straight.

The Arrancar made it three steps before nearly collapsing. Ichigo quickly caught him, worry racing through his body as he realized just how weak the other was. What the hell had happened?

"_You assaulted him with you reiatsu while fighting,"_ Zangetsu answered calmly.

"I said I am fine, Kurosaki," Grimmjow growled and tried once more to stand on his own power.

"_**Dumb ass, you have done more damage to him than I ever have,"**_ H'tsu snapped.

Ichigo growled and Grimmjow froze in his arms, instantly giving up trying to stand on his own and going still and silent. It took a moment before Ichigo realized it and slowly helped the other stand before letting him go.

"I want to rest…. and I need to eat," Grimmjow said hesitantly.

"Yeah, I understand," Ichigo sighed. _"__But I still don__'__t like it,__"_ he added silently.

"_**My offer still stands,"**_ H'tsu commented.

"_Shut up, just shut the fuck up,"_ Ichigo snarled.

He felt H'tsu jerk. Ichigo did not swear very often and the fact he had now showed just how much stress he was under.

"_**There is another option. He could consume some of your own released reiatsu,"**_ H'tsu dared to speak up, using a softer tone Ichigo had never heard the Hollow use before.

"_Released reiatsu?"_ he questioned despite himself.

If there was some way to feed Grimmjow without needing to hunt he would happily take it. The sooner Kisuke was able to get them to Hueco Mundo, and the sooner they could get those food tablets, the better.

"_**Just get him to bed and tell him you want him to feed from your reiatsu. He will know what to do from there,"**_ H'tsu instructed in a neutral voice.

Ichigo really didn't feel like trusting H'tsu right now, but the hollow had actually been right about refreshing his markings and other things. He sensed no deception from H'tsu; in fact everything involving this situation between him and Grimmjow had been surprisingly handled honesty and without any real form of deception. Deliberate vagueness out of the Hollow's sick sense of humour yes, but it almost did seem like H'tsu was actually taking this seriously.

"Alright, first let's get you into bed. Sorry about the reiatsu barrage," he apologised sheepishly as he got them moving up the stairs towards his bedroom. "Even if I did feel like…. hunting, I don't want to leave you alone weakened like this, so I want you to feed from my reiatsu instead."

(POV)

Feed from his reiatsu? He had never once mentioned that as a possibility simply because he refused to do such a thing, especially for a male Shinigami.

"_Fucking bastard,"_ Grimmjow snarled inward. _"H'tsu must have told him about it, fucking Hollow. I should have known better than to hope not mentioning it would mean I wouldn't have to debase myself to do it,"_ he growled.

He knew H'tsu had to be behind the suggestion and he cursed Ichigo for making it an order. He felt his instincts leap at the offer while his mind remained sickened at the thought. His body desperately required sustenance and he had no doubt that Ichigo would pump out a fair amount of reiatsu.

"Is that what you want?" he asked softly.

"It's more along the lines of what you need," Ichigo answered. "And like I said, I don't feel confident about hunting and leaving you alone weakened like this. If you can feed off of my reiatsu than that is what we will do."

"_Oh fuck no. I am not doing this every night for a fucking week,"_ he snarled inward. _"or ever again for that fucking mater…fucking bastard is right though,"_ he mentally groaned. "I'll do it tonight only because I agree with you. I need to eat and this is the fastest way to bring my strength back up, but I am not doing it again," he snarled. "If I have to I will hunt for myself before doing this again," he declared firmly.

"Alright," Ichigo agreed easily.

That fact Ichigo had conceded without a fight was at least one relief. They made it to the den and Ichigo set him down on the edge of the bed. He rested for a moment, regaining his wits and trying not to think about what he was about to do.

It actually was rather common in the hollow world when kills were made too far away to bring back to the den. The Sire would eat and then return to the nest to share his essence with his Beta. Still, the thought sickened him as they were no longer simple, sexless Adjucus.

Slowly, he started to undress. Ichigo just watched him, a small light of lust lighting up in those piercing brown eyes. Ichigo stood before him, apparently waiting for him to undress him as well.

Holding back the rather viscous words that were bubbling on his lips, he slowly reached towards the teen and started to undo his pants before pulling them down. He kept his gaze locked on the floor, not wanting to see the smirk of satisfaction he was positive must have been on the teens face as he was reduced to this.

He finished undressing the teen before shifting forward on the bed apprehensively. He paused, seriously not wanting to do this and yet being far too prideful to beg not to. Still, he couldn't help but to glance up and noticed the look of confusion, and lust, on Ichigo's face.

Something quickly occurred to him, and in all honestly he realized he should have figured as much sooner. So far everything that had been required H'tsu had made him explain to Ichigo, so it should have been no surprise the Hollow expected him to explain _this_ as well. Bastard.

"H'tsu didn't tell you what it was you actually ordered me to do, did he?" he asked in apprehension.

"He just said you could feed from my reiatsu," Ichigo answered slightly breathlessly.

There was no doubt his Alpha was aroused. The evidence was right in front of his face.

"Fucker," Grimmjow muttered.

There was no point in delaying the inevitable and the tell tale signs of reiatsu so close to his mouth was singing to his maternal instincts. He needed to feed and there was a strong source of food right in front of his face.

He mentally snarled a thousand curses even as his instincts forced his body to betray him and he took Ichigo into his mouth, slowly starting to suck on the teens shaft to coax out the reiatsu infused fluid that was contained within Ichigo's body.

Ichigo let out a loud gasp and his hands shot to steady himself on Grimmjow's shoulders. The teen made keening noises as he worked, trying his damnedest to get his Alpha to cum so he could consume the reiatsu infused fluid and get this humiliation over and done with.

His work was suddenly interrupted when Ichigo shoved him away. He whimpered in protest, thinking for a moment that his Alpha had somehow been displeased and he was being denied a meal, but that fear was quickly alleviated when he noticed the golden eyed teen was crawling over him, a look of pure lust in his eyes, indicating that instinct had consumed him as well.

Ichigo adjusted him on the bed so he was laying down before straddling his face in such a way he was facing Grimmjow's body.

"Eat," Ichigo commanded in a voice that sent shivers up and down his spine.

He took the other in again, sucking desperately as much to end this humiliation as to get the meal just waiting for him. He fondled his Alpha's sacks, trying anything he could think of to get the other to cum.

He let out a gasp as he felt warm, slick hands begin to fondle him as well and he suddenly understood why Ichigo had changed their positions and mounted him this way. His entire body was displayed before his Alpha to do with as he pleased in this position.

It became difficult to focus on his task as Ichigo's skilled hands worked his own length. At one point the teen switched to a one handed hold while the other snaked down and under to fondle the entrance to his rear.

Grimmjow squirmed, trying to escape the probing digit before a displeased growl came from his Alpha and Ichigo pulled slightly away from his body. No! He needed to eat and he grasped the teens hips to hold him in place while forcing his body to remain still.

Appeased, Ichigo once more lowered himself back down and continued with his assault. Grimmjow winced a little as he was penetrated by the oil slicked finger and tried to concentrate on his own task.

The sooner this was done, the sooner his own torment would end and he could get some much needed rest. The double feeling of being pumped and penetrated was quickly hazing what was left of his mind and the moment Ichigo found his prostate with that probing finger he let out a whimper of his own.

Feeding was quickly becoming something he could care less about as his Alpha pleasured him, one hand working his length while the other stroked that delightful spot inside of him. He let out a whimper of pleasure as he felt the tight heat gather in his stomach as Ichigo continued to torture him.

Finally, he could take no more and cried out in pleasure as stars danced before his eyes. He squirmed and tired to escape, but Ichigo merely leaned forward and kept him pinned to the bed with his body until his convulsions ended.

Grimmjow panted for breath, feeling even weaker now and in desperate need of substance. He took his Alpha back in, sucking harshly and stroking the under side of Ichigo's shaft at the same time with his tongue in a bid to get the other to finally release.

When Ichigo finally did reach completing, it came quickly and without warning. He nearly choked as the stream hit the back of his throat before he started to swallow and continue sucking, trying to get as much as he could.

The amount of reiatsu infused in it was invigorating. He knew Kurosaki was powerful, but this was simply ridicules. All he could taste was the raw power of Ichigo's reiatsu and he was instantly craving more even as he felt oddly satisfied and drowsy, with a side of sickness for actually enjoying the taste, granted reiatsu this powerful had to taste good.

Ichigo shifted again to lay down beside him and Grimmjow force his eyes open to stare at the teen. Brown eyes were still golden, indicating the hybrid was still caught up in instinct. The lust was still very evident and Grimmjow was not very surprised when the teen leaned in and started to nip and lick at his throat.

He bared his throat to his Alpha, sighing in bliss as those soft lips and sharp teeth massaged his neck, occasionally pricking enough to draw small droplets of blood. He could feel the reiatsu infused liquid he had consumed settle in his stomach and slowly be absorbed by his body and the cub that was forming.

"_I swear, the next time around when I Dominate him, I will make him consume my released reiatsu at least once a week for daring to humiliate me like this,"_ he promised silently. _"No, on second thought, it's the only way he will be permitted to feed,"_ he decided firmly.

Ichigo was rubbing against him and Grimmjow was surprised to notice his Alpha was already hard again. A part of him just wanted to sleep, another part wanted to leap at the chance for another feeding (he quickly and ruthlessly squashed that pathetic part of himself), and yet a third part felt himself stirring at the thought of another round.

Mainly though, he was exhausted and sated and just wanted to sleep. He turned onto his side slowly as a silent yet submissive way of indicating he wasn't interested, earning a growl of protest from his Alpha until he turned his head to bear his throat once more.

Ichigo was definitely obsessed with his throat and he could honestly say he enjoyed the attention with the thrill of danger it presented. He could feel slumber reaching out to him, but it would seem Ichigo was not ready for bed yet and was grinding his newly aroused erection against his rear while stroking his arm gently.

"I will take you," Ichigo promised, his voice husky with both desire and command.

The sound of it sent a shiver down his spine. He wanted to sleep, to rest, to digest the meal he had consumed and regain his strength, but it would seem Ichigo had other plans for them.

"I desire rest," he said tiredly, letting his exhaustion show as he was just too damn tired to care.

"After. How do you want it?" the teen demanded.

"How about you under me?" he suggested in a clipped voice.

He felt Ichigo's chest vibrate against his back as the teen chuckled in amusement.

"If it will make you feel better," Ichigo commented, shoving him over to take the center of the bed before manoeuvring Grimmjow on top of him.

He couldn't believe his Alpha was actually permitting him on top. He stared down at the teen who was now laying under him, staring back up at him with golden eyes in a hazy lust.

"Well?" Ichigo questioned when he still hadn't moved.

"Fuck you," Grimmjow spat.

Ichigo grabbed a fist full of his hair and pulled their faces together for a deep, warring kiss. He may have been relegated to Beta, but like hell he was going to just turn belly up. His tongue clashed with the teens in a viscous battle while his claws raked down Ichigo's arms, drawing thin lines of blood. Dimly he was aware of his own back being scratched up as Ichigo released the grip he'd had on his head.

Ichigo won the war when the teen used an underhanded tactic to break his concentration. Grimmjow let out a snarl and tried to move when he felt his Alpha begin to probe his entrance with a finger.

"You're already dry,"

"No shit, I wasn't that wet to begin with," he pointed out with a snap.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the snap and despite himself he felt a line of fear crawl up his spine. He adverted his eyes and unconsciously bared his throat. He probably would have moved as well if Ichigo's hands hand been on his hips holding him in place.

One hand left his hips and he forced a growl out of his throat before making his eyes return to the teens. They were still staring up at him in lust and he nearly jerked in surprise when he felt an oil soaked finger begin to probe him.

He was determined to remind the teen laying beneath him, and himself, that he was a force to be reckoned with, even if he had been reduced to a Beta's state. He groaned in pleasure and began to rub their bodies together as Ichigo prepared him.

He ducked his head down and began to trail nips along Ichigo's chests and moved his hands to tweak the teens nipples. His lips traced a pink trail over Ichigo's collar bone, but a growl warned him of daring to go any closer to his neck.

The teen removed his fingers and once more grasped Grimmjow's hips. It was clear what Ichigo wanted and he winced slightly as he was manoeuvred into position and slowly penetrated.

"Mmmmm. Yes, like that," Ichigo moaned in a deep, powerful, husky voice that sent a shiver up Grimmjow's spine.

He raised his eyes up to look at Ichigo's, noticing they were still golden and feral. It was like he was looking at a different side of Ichigo, as if he had fused his human self with the instincts H'tsu gave him. It was a very sexy look for a hollow, so full of power and confidence. Even though he was the one on top there was no doubt as to who the one in control was.

He made himself feel better by imagining himself in the teens body, by daydreaming that he had the teen pinned beneath him and not that he was being _permitted_ on top. It was made easier to imagine as Ichigo's hands wrapped around his length, stroking it and offering him pleasure he didn't have to.

He started to pant in pleasure, moaning and withering as he thrust into those warm, oil slicked hands. Sweat rolled down their bodies and he found himself throwing his head back and gasping in pleasure as Ichigo's length assaulted his prostate while his hands pleasured him.

He let out a cry as he felt himself finally find release, cum spurting across Ichigo's chest. His body convulsed and a few more spurts came out before he lost what little strength he had and collapsed against his Alpha, panting for breath and wincing as his sweat stung the small lines Ichigo had clawed on his back.

A few more upward thrusts into his body from Ichigo caused the teen to reach his release and once done Ichigo finally let him role to the side to lay panting on the bed. He lay on his stomach feeling completely drained but still satisfied from his earlier feeding.

He jumped slightly in surprise as he felt something warm and wet touch his back before slowly traveling up it. Looking over his shoulder blue eyes met feral gold as Ichigo licked a trail up another red line across his back, cleaning the wounds inflicted by his own nails.

Sighing contently he let the soft strokes lull him into slumber. His Alpha was pleased and taking care of him while he belly was full and his body exhausted. The thrum of Ichigo's reiatsu all about him felt like a warm blanket and sleep was not hard to come by as his Instinct insured him all was well and it was safe to rest.

* * *

><p>Thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback, it makes me all warm and fuzzy knowing I have managed to draw so many people in. I make it my personal challenge to explore new frontiers and to draw readers into new things. I am happy I have succeeded.<p>

But seriously, reading your reviews really makes a difference and inspires me to write more and update sooner. Not to say the 4th Bleach Movie didn't help as well, put the taste back in my mouth after the god awful filler crap going on right now. Can't wait to get back into cannon.

Next Chapter: Ichigo's family returns home. Oh yeah, expect some fun next chapter.


	9. Accepting Ones Fate

Warnings: Um, sex, love of blood.

Accepting Ones Fate

Ichigo woke up the next morning feeling sleepy and sedated. He recalled the evening in a sort of strange, hazy way in that he could remember the feeling of amazing sex, but his mind was sort of not there, almost like he had been dreaming but could still recall the feeling of every touch they had shared. It was strange, disorientating, and yet wonderful all at the same time and he wanted more.

The slight tang of Grimmjow's blood was still on his tongue and he felt himself getting hard already.

"_Dear kami, what the hell is wrong with me?"_ he questioned. _"I mean, I know I am a teenager now and this is sort of expected, but this damn bad? Or is something else going on,"_ he wondered.

He glanced down at the body curled up against his, noticing the red lines on Grimmjow's back from his nails were still there and a few were even bleeding slightly. Licking his lips, he moved in and swept his tongue up one of the lines. The taste left his toes curling and he felt himself stiffen almost painfully.

"_Son of a bitch, I think his blood is like some sort of aphrodisiac,"_ he thought shocked.

Even figuring that to be true, he couldn't stop himself from licking up another trail, savouring the taste. When what little blood he could glean from the scratches quickly ran dry, he found a spot of clear skin and nipped it.

Grimmjow gave a jerk at that and woke with a start, trying to pull away and struggled for a few second as his sleep confused mind flung him into 'flight' to escape the unknown danger.

Ichigo merely tightened his grip to hold him in place and licked up the small amount of blood he had earned from his nip. After a moment the Espada settled in his arms and stopped trying to escape as his mind woke up enough to realize what was going on.

"I swear, when I dominate the next mating, you are going to regret every minute of the humiliation you are putting me through," he hissed in threat.

Ichigo chuckled against his shoulder before speaking.

"What makes you think you will Dominate the next time?" he questioned.

"I will make sure of it," Grimmjow growled.

That growl turned into a moan as Ichigo snaked a hand down to the semi hard length of the Espada and stroked him. They stayed like that for a while, Ichigo nipping at Grimmjow's back and licking up small amounts of blood while his hands pleasured his Beta. He ground his hips against the Arrancar trapped in his grasp and listened in pleasure as Grimmjow growled and squirmed against him but didn't try too hard to escape.

"My family is coming home today," Ichigo spoke up at one point.

"And?"

"If you try to hurt them I will be displeased," he said firmly.

"I could have killed them a million times over by now," Grimmjow pointed out with a roll of his eyes.

"Karin and my father will be able to see you, but Yuzu won't be able to. If you are going to stay here I expect you to behave and do nothing to endanger them."

"The only reason they might be in danger from me is because of you anyway," Grimmjow pointed out coldly.

"_**He's right King, you should refresh your marker so any Hollow that **does** come near will be able to tell there is a mated pair in residence and will more than likely stay well clear,"**_ H'tsu spoke up for the first time this morning.

"_Any Hollow that comes here would be easy enough for him to defeat, and he will probably just eat it,"_ Zangetsu added more to ease Ichigo's suddenly anxious mind than because he felt the information was necessary.

Ichigo gave a mental sigh, but thanked them for the information before turning his attention once more to the Espada trapped in his arms.

"I still don't know what I am going to tell them," Ichigo sighed in frustration.

"Just tell them the truth, they are going to find out anyway, unless you plan on keeping this from them."

The thought of keeping it a secret from his family was very, very, very, very, well he could go on with the verys, tempting, but he knew all too well how secrets tending to turn out. It would be best to come forth and who knew, maybe his old man might actually be mature for all of five seconds and might even know something about this.

"_Yeah, like that would ever happen,"_ he thought grimly.

His father really was not the serious type and Ichigo was pretty sure if he added up the minutes he had seen his father serious he would be lucky to get a full day out of it. Karin would probably actually handle it the best while Yuzu would be half shocked an half delighted, assuming she even understood any of this.

As much as he needed to work all of this out, preferably before noon when his family was expected to be home, there was a more pressing matter on his brain, and not the one attached to the head on his shoulders either.

"Damn it your blood taste so damn good," he groaned, nipping another section of skin and lapping up the red liquid.

"Of course it does, I have been impregnated. It's sort of a defence mechanism to try and keep the sire around. Doesn't always work, but it helps."

"Wait, is this what you meant by your scent changing? Because your blood changed?"

"Something like that. When it's your turn your blood will change as well and it will be my turn to enjoy watching you bleed."

"Whatever," Ichigo groaned, his voice going husky and his eyes well on their way to gold. "How shall I take you this time?"

He felt Grimmjow shiver in his grasp at the sound of his voice.

"You're the Alpha, do what you will, as I will when it's my turn," he answered.

"_**Fuck him hard King, show the Pet how it's done, that you are Dominant and that he will NEVER have the power nor strength to ever Dominate us,"**_ H'tsu commanded.

His mind was so hazy with instinct, lust and the taste of blood that he didn't even argue or tell H'tsu off. All he wanted right now was the satisfaction of release, and maybe a few more laps of blood.

He untangled himself from his Beta before pulling him into the centre of the bed, rolling him onto his back so he could have clear access to the other most pleasurable thing about the Espada, his throat.

Blue eyes stared defiantly into golden and Ichigo wasted no time in going for his Beta's throat, silently reminding him just who was in command. A gasp escaped from Grimmjow's lips as Ichigo's mouth, tongue and teeth worked the flesh above his jugular. The spot was already bright red from his previous attentions, but only had one set of teeth marks for he always seemed to nip the exact same spot.

"Mine!" he growled.

Grimmjow growled low in his own throat at the declaration, sending vibrations over Ichigo's lips and tongue. The insubordination was rewards with a nip and the growl turned into a whimper of pleasure.

Even with his mind hazy with instinct and the desperate need to mate, Ichigo at least maintained enough thought to prepare Grimmjow's entrance before bullying his way between the Espada's legs. He broke off his attention from Grimmjow's throat so he could sit up a bit and hook his arms around either leg, lifting Grimmjow's hips up off of the bed before diving in.

Ichigo let out a loud moan of pleasure as the heat enveloped him and Grimmjow let out a growl of his own, all be it soft and it turned into a whimper when Ichigo went in deep enough to brush his prostate. They remained frozen for a moment, tied together and neither one moving.

Than Ichigo pulled out and thrust back in before starting a fast and heavy pace that screamed of power and dominance. Beneath him, Grimmjow squirmed and tried to escape while letting out little yowls of pleasure every time his prostate was hit, and Ichigo was damn good at hitting it.

Ichigo didn't slow down nor stop and continued to ride his Beta, gasping in pleasure at the tight heat that was wrapped around him. Eventually Grimmjow quit trying to escape and went limp beneath him, letting out little whimpers of pleasure and surrendering to his Alpha.

"_**Good pet,"**_ H'tsu purred in Ichigo's mind.

If Ichigo heard his hollow, he made no sign of it. With his Beta finally submitting he freed one leg and moved the hand between their bodies to grasp the hard length pinned between their bodies without even a pause in his thrusting.

It only took a few, good stroked to have Grimmjow keening beneath him and for hot semen to splash across their bellies. The sound of his Beta's cry and the tight clenching around his shaft from the release brought him to his own and he threw back his head to let out a very feral sounding roar as he felt himself come to his own completion.

They both remained still after that, panting heavily and their bodies still fully entangled. Grimmjow was the first to move, pushing weakly against him to try and get him off. He let out a growl of displeasure and Grimmjow instantly stopped trying to dislodge him, laying back down and bearing his throat in submission.

"Fuck you are sexy like this," Ichigo growled, his voice still feral and his eyes still golden, but they were slowly retuning to their normal brown.

"Didn't you say your family was going to be home today?" Grimmjow questioned.

The rest of the gold quickly vanished and a look of shock crossed the teen's face before his eyes darted to the clock on his desk.

"Shit!" he cursed, quickly untangling their bodies and getting up.

It was already almost nine, and his family was expected home by noon. There was no way he was letting his sisters in the house when his room and blankets reeked and stank of sweat and sex.

"Damn it," Ichigo added another curse. "Come on, we should probably shower and I need to get the bedding into the washer."

(POV)

The hot water of the shower slowly ran down Grimmjow's body, washing away sweat, semen, the oil they had used, and a little bit of blood down the drain. Ichigo had joined him briefly in the rather large shower, but the teen had only quickly washed up before retreating with a promise to put on a pot of coffee.

He had honestly been expecting to be jumped again in the shower, but it would seem like Ichigo was more concerned about the fact his family would be home soon than he was about getting another round of sex in.

Honestly, Grimmjow didn't understand why the teen was worried about his family knowing what they were doing, it wasn't like there was anything weird about it. Being an Arrancar didn't stop those that desired to Mate from doing so wherever and whenever they wanted.

When the Alpha wanted attention, the Beta was expected to give it, that was all there was to it. Not that Grimmjow would ever willingly or obediently just spread his legs for Ichigo, no he would make the teen work for it, or so he kept telling himself.

He was pushing the boundaries and he knew it. Another Alpha might have already reprimanded him, probably even rather violently, for pushing the boarders of his obedience. And yet, he was fairly certain that Ichigo, even Feral Ichigo as he was starting to think of the golden eyed teen, liked that disobedience and found it appealing. He knew he would had their situations been reversed.

"Fuck it," he growled in annoyance before finally reaching for the same shampoo and soap Ichigo had used, everything else on the shelf smelt far too girly and probably belonged to his sisters.

He cleaned himself up quickly, wincing in pain as he made sure to clean out his rear the best he could and winced at the small trail of blood that escaped. Ichigo had been rough on him this morning and he fully intended on paying the teen back.

Oh yes when it was his turn he fully planned on fucking the teen into the damn floor every night no matter how much Ichigo begged or pleaded. He would show the hybrid what it truly meant to be Alpha.

"_But could I actually defeat him in combat?"_ he couldn't help but to question before scowling at himself for daring to think that way.

Unfortunately, the thought remained and refused to let his mind go.

Ichigo had defeated Aizen, a person that Grimmjow knew he never could have, and yet the teen had. He had also defeated Ulquiorra and while Grimmjow hadn't been capable of witnessing that fight, he had sure as hell felt it from his place laying in a pool of his own blood on the sand.

"Fucking Nnoitra, good thing that Shinigami killed him because if he hadn't than I sure as hell would have ripped the bastards throat out with my bloody fangs," he snarled to himself. "Regardless of what Nel would have wanted," he added.

Nel, the reason he had managed to survive. The little girl had come too just as Nnoitra had died and while she had sobbed about it for a moment, she had crawled over to him and proceeded to throw up all over him.

He might have been more sickened at that, but he was familiar with her and her powers and was more surprised she was actually helping him. Granted, the two of them always had gotten along and she always was a team supporter so he shouldn't really be that surprised.

While Nel's healing fluids were no where near as powerful as Orihime's golden shield, they were more than enough to bind the deeper gashes and his own innate ability to heal took care of the rest of the damage.

He owed the woman his life, in fact he very grudgingly admitted he owed Ichigo his life. If Ichigo hadn't deflected the last strike Nnoitra had aimed at him he would definitely be dead now. He hated owing people things.

"_Fuck that, I don't owe him shit anymore. THIS is payment enough.,"_ he snarled to himself before another thought quickly came to him and a look of surprise crossed his face._ "Maybe that is why my body betrayed me, because instinctively I knew I owed the teen a life debt,"_ he mused in thought.

Maybe, just maybe, his Instinct had so easily accepted becoming Beta because it recalled he owed the teen his life, that Ichigo had been the one to win their duel on even ground and spare him. So while his mind protested the very thought of bearing his throat to the teen, his Instinct embraced it and after the cub was laid, hatched and raised he would be free of his debt.

It sort of made sense in a twisted way and Grimmjow decided to go with that idea as to how he had so easily been Dominated. It sure as hell made the whole damn thing easier to swallow.

Finally coming to some sort of peace over the situation he found himself in, and suddenly finding it much easier to swallow as well, he turned the shower off and climbed out. Ichigo had left out a towel for him as well as some clothes.

He dried off and eyed the clothing left for him. Oddly enough it appeared to be a simple, navy blue yukuta with white feathers. He was honestly surprised for he had no idea the teen owned something like this. He hadn't seen it when he had rooted through the boys closet the other day.

There was almost no trace of the teens scent on it so he clearly didn't wear it very often, if at all. He had never really seen humans in the living realm wear this kind of clothing anymore, so why did Ichigo own something like this? He hardly seemed like the nostalgic type.

Still, it was lose and comfortable and Ichigo's normal clothing didn't quite fit him. His pants were just a little too short and his shirts a little too tight, as he had discovered when rooting through the teens clothing yesterday, but this at least fit him without feeling like he was being restrained.

"Doesn't look half bad," he grudgingly admitted as he checked his image out in the mirror.

He shook out his hair and had no qualms about stealing Ichigo's comb to get it back into its orderly disorder.

The smell of coffee was getting pretty strong and he followed the scent down the stairs, past the running washer and into the kitchen where Ichigo was sitting down and eating what looked like toast with eggs on it. There was already a cup waiting for him next to the pot and he completely ignored the teen until he had his cup of black heavenliness in hand.

It was only after his first blissful sip that he realized that Ichigo had actually stopped eating and was openly staring at him.

"What?" he demanded gruffly.

"Nothing, sorry, it's just," the teen ran a nervous hand through his hair, "you look good in that. I wasn't sure it was even going to fit, but I figured it was better than my other clothing."

Grimmjow smirked and watched amused as Ichigo swallowed nervously and shifted in his chair.

"You don't seem like the type to wear one of these,"

"My Grandmother made it. I only wear it for festivals because the girls insist I take them, but in all honesty it looks a hell of a lot better on you than it does on me," Ichigo answered.

That certainly answered the question as to where it came from and why it barely had Ichigo's scent.

"Have you decided on what to tell your family?"

"The truth," Ichigo answered with a soft groan. "It's going to come to light sooner than later anyhow, might as well come clean out the starting gate, just one thing though," Ichigo paused to offer an even deeper groan, "I should warn you my father is beyond eccentric and excitable."

Grimmjow did know what Ichigo was talking about. While never talking to Ichigo's father before, he had witnessed the older Kurosaki's antics several times while stalking the teen. Other than Ichigo the only other Kurosaki he had spoken briefly to was Karin and she was alright.

"What time are they due home?"

"Around noon. You said you already spoke to Karin once?" Ichigo questioned.

"Yeah, when she asked me to tone down my reiatsu because it was given her a headache, which is strange since she seems fine around you and you have no control at all."

Ichigo scowled at him, took another vicious bite out of his egg covered toast and chewed the bite with more vigour than was necessary. Grimmjow took the break in the conversation to refill his cup of coffee. He swore he was bringing some of this stuff back with him. The Living World was apparently not a total waste of space after all.

Ichgio finished swallowing his bite and took a swig of orange juice before speaking again.

"Yuzu probably wont be able to see you, but she might be able to tell your at least here. She never could see ghost like the rest of us could. As for my father," a grim line touched Ichigo's lips, "he's an ex Shinigami and a little….. eccentric," the teen said with a strange voice. "I am not sure how they are going to react to your being here, but it only needs to last until Urahara-san can get the garganta open anyhow."

"So a week, I think I can survive that long," Grimmjow murmured.

"Yeah a week,"

They sat in silence as Ichigo finished eating his toast and eggs before cleaning up the dishes and retreating down the hall to put the sheets into the dryer. Grimmjow made himself comfortable at the table after pouring himself his third cup.

He glanced at the digital clock on the stove. Ichigo's family should be home in an hour or so. He honestly didn't like crowds and honestly wondered how this meeting was going to go.

Family, he had never had one of those that he could recall, not even in the few flashes he got of his mortal life. The closest he's had to a family was when he had led his own pack, but that was not the same. By the time he had met them he had long since given up hoping for offspring of his own. They had been minions, not family. While it had been uncomfortable to have lost them, he hardly lamented it until after Aizen's fall when he was once more alone.

Nel had not remained by his side. She had gathered her fraccion and moved on, once more back out into the dessert to enjoy her new found freedom in childhood. A small part of him envied the former 3rd Espada, now a little carefree girl free of hunger and able to more or less survive on the air alone. She may not have born them, and they sure as hell never birthed her, but they were a family.

Despite himself he couldn't help but to wonder how his own offspring would look like and he felt a trill of excitement race up his spine at the idea of teaching his young how to hunt.

Kami he was Mated. Mated! At last he would have the offspring he had so desperately desired and while he ended up being the Beta, it didn't change the fact he finally had a cub coming.

He looked down at his stomach and rested a hand there. He could feel the warm feeling of his reiatsu and DNA mixing with the Alpha's as it conformed within him to form the egg that would soon escape from his body to finish maturing before hatching.

Would it be humanoid in shape? Panther shaped like his own Adjucus evolution? What did Ichigo's hollow form truly look like? He figured it might have been some sort of bull considering what his mask looked like with the horns and all when he really went all out.

Just thinking about the power he had felt the day Ichigo had defeated Ulquiorra left his skin shivering in a mixture of fear and pleasure. A beast of that power had chosen him, Mated him. The child should been astonishing.

"Well at least you got it toned down, does Ichi-nii know you are here yet?"

Startled blue eyes snapped up to stare at the black haired girl standing at the door in shock.

* * *

><p>Okay, I lied, the family meeting well be next chapter. It turns out this one was over 20 pages so I decided to split it. That and I haven't got much stock story so pushing it a bit further helps me keep a some what steady update.<p>

/HUGE HUGS to everyone that reviewed. I love each an everyone of them and they really do get the fingers going.

Their relationship will be a slow build up. Neither are really the type to fall in love at first sight. Right now they are both kind of in a bit of shock and taking things one minute at a time and letting Instinct lead them.

Next Chapter: Grimmjow meets the family. Promise this time.


	10. Family

Family Meeting

"Well at least you got it toned down, does Ichi-nii know you are here?"

Grimmjow jerked and stared up at the girl standing in the kitchen doorway in shock. He had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn't even felt her presence. He scowled inward at himself for letting himself drop his guard like that. Had she been a real threat he might have already been dead.

"Who are you speaking to Karin?" a female voice called from the living room before the fair headed twin poked her head in the kitchen, looking around confused.

He could tell right away that she couldn't see him as her eyes scanned over the kitchen in confusion several times. Karin, on the other hand, kept her gaze locked steady with his, not an ounce of fear showed in her eyes, but she was at least weary.

"He must know you are here unless you have taken to raiding his wardrobe," Karin added, coming confidently into the kitchen and pouring herself a cup of coffee before turning to refill his own cup.

"Karin?" Yuzu asked confused.

"Just a friend of Ichi-nii's," Karin explained to her confused sister.

"Oh, tell him or her I say hi," Yuzu said brightly.

"He can hear you, you just can't see him," Karin rolled her eyes.

"Oh, um hi," Yuzu greeted shyly, her eyes locked on his cup of coffee.

"Why don't you go help Goat Face unpack," Karin suggested.

"Oh, okay," Yuzu darted out of the kitchen.

"You still haven't answered my question?" Karin sat down across from him, weary but otherwise showing no fear of him.

"Huh?" he questioned intelligently.

"Does Ichi-nii know you are here?"

"Yeah," he answered, regaining his composure and sitting up straight, taking a sip of his coffee.

Karin looked at him oddly.

"What?" he demanded in a snap.

"You feel different," she finally admitted.

He gapped at her in surprise. Ichigo hadn't even noticed until it had been pointed out to him and yet his slip of a little sister with barely enough reiatsu to warrant attention had noticed right away that there was something different about him.

Before he could demand to know how she could even notice such a thing when they barely knew each other, a very loud commotion broke out upstairs.

"ICHIGO, YOU HAVE DROPPED YOUR GUARD AND NOW MUST WAHHHHHH!" Isshin's loud voice screamed from up stairs, the sentence cutting off midway to give way to a wail of pain.

"FOR CHRIST SAKES YOU STUPID OLD BASTARD, GROW UP ALREADY!" Ichigo's voice roared back.

There was several loud crashes and the sound of Yuzu's frantic voice trying to placate the two men drifted down the stairs.

"Idiots," Karin muttered, seeming not the least bit disturbed by the violence.

Ichigo came into the kitchen a minute later, a scowl on his face and his reiatsu lashing in such displeasure that it would send some of the toughest hollows into hiding. He stopped when he looked up and noticed the two of them sitting down drinking coffee.

"Oh, Karin," Ichigo greeted nervously.

"Goat Face being an idiot again?" Karin questioned casually.

"Yeah," Ichigo answered with an exasperated sight. "How was the trip?" he asked.

"Same old, same old. Yuzu has some things for you from the family and they were sad you couldn't come, but otherwise nothing much exciting happened. How long have you two been hanging out?" Karin questioned.

"I, ah, what?" Ichigo asked confused.

Karin rolled her eyes at him.

"There is far too much of his," she pointed at Grimmjow, "reiatsu clinging to the house for him to have been here for only a few hours. It feels like he's been here for days."

"Oh, yeah, he has been," Ichigo answered.

"You going to introduce us or what?" Karin asked with a raised eye.

"Huh, oh right, this is my sister, Karin, Karin this is Grimmjow, he's um…"

"A hollow," Grimmjow grunted. "Former Sixth Espada, technically the First now I guess since the others are all gone," he introduced himself.

"Obviously. The hole in your chest and the mask on your face is a dead giveaway," she rolled her eyes at them, "as is the feeling of your reiatsu, which thank you for subduing by the way. I don't know why, but only Hollow reiatsu gives me headaches, which I guess is a good thing since Ichi-nii here has about as much self control as… well… I honestly can't think of anything with that little control," she admitted thoughtfully.

Ichigo gave out a sound of protest while Grimmjow let out a bark of a laugh. Oh yes he could definitely get along with this one.

"You never did tell me why your reiatsu is off though, I mean I haven't seen you around too much, but I have seen you enough to know something is wrong," Karin turned her gaze from her spluttering brother back to him.

The questioned silenced Ichigo and the teen went suddenly still, staring at his sister in surprise. He felt another set of eyes boring into him and he turned his gaze from the siblings to the man suddenly standing at the door.

Kurosaki Isshin was staring straight at him with a look Grimmjow could not begin to decipher and he felt his hackles rise, ready to either defend himself or flee. Isshin, it would seem, had as much control over his reiatsu as Ichigo lacked. While he could barely feel the older Kurosaki, what he could feel spoke of a deep pool of power. This man was dangerous and he suddenly wished his Alpha was standing a little bit closer to him.

"Ichigo, I thought I raised you with better manners than this, how dare you not introduce me to you friend," Isshin scolded his son, sending a punch to the back of his son's head.

Ichigo dodged the swipe and replied with one of his own, connecting with his father's face and sending him into the wall.

"Because you didn't give me a chance, idiot," Ichigo scowled at his father.

Isshin peeled himself from the wall he had been punched into, but before another round of father/son bonding could begin, Karin broke it up.

"Oi, knock it off. You are leaving a bad impression on our guest," Karin scolded.

"Please, just sit down and stop fighting," Yuzu begged with budding tears in her eyes as she joined them in the kitchen.

"Of course, anything for you my darling daughter!" Isshin declared, hugging her close. "At least one of my offspring respects her poor father."

"That's because you don't deserve respect!" Karin and Ichigo barked at the same time.

Grimmjow had witnessed some of these antics from a distance, but watching it first hand left him honestly flabbergasted. He wasn't an expert on how normal human families function, but he was pretty sure it didn't look like this. Other than Yuzu this was more on par with a hollow family in a sense, and did explain Ichigo's natural instincts.

One thing he did notice was that Isshin reserved all of his training for his son, which was foolish. Yuzu might as well have been free food, which from what he picked up from her was all she was ever going to be. Karin, on the other hand, had some potential and he couldn't believe that her Sire was deliberately debilitating her chances of survival by ignoring her.

Everyone eventually settled down and sat at the table, Ichigo sitting on one side of him while Karin shuffled over and took the other. That was a relief because he honestly had no desire to be near Isshin and Yuzu was honestly beneath his notice and was only noteworthy at all because she shared Ichigo's blood.

Yuzu was the only one who seemed nervous and kept staring at his cup of coffee, probably because it was the only thing her eyes could focus on since she clearly couldn't see him. Hell, he wasn't even sure that she could sense him.

Isshin still had a somewhat goofy expression on his face, but his eyes remained firm and in all honesty the gaze was making Grimmjow uncomfortable. This was his Alpha's Sire. This was technically Isshin's den and he had no doubt that the ex-Shinigami would be more than capable of kicking him out of it if he didn't pass his examination.

The thought of wandering alone in this condition was not pleasant and he quelled the budding terror by telling himself Ichigo would not abandon him even if Isshin did deny him permission to bed down with his family.

He was pretty sure he could easily survive a week in the Living World alone. Most of the Hollows that came here were no stronger than rats. Few Adjucus had reasons to come here short of possibly stealing clothing when they got closer to their Vasto Lorde stages. But after a week he would truly start to need food and would weaken to the point that he would either lose his cub or one of those pussy ass weaklings would actually finally out power him and he would be consumed. Both were disgusting thoughts.

"So, you going to tell me why your reiatsu is all messed up?" Karin was the first to break the silence.

Ichigo sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't even know where to begin to explain this," he groaned.

"Why don't you start with the part that you are a Shinigami," Karin suggested slightly coldly. "Because I swear if you try to deny it this time my foot is going to smash your head into next week," she threatened.

Grimmjow couldn't help the smirk that touched his lips. He definitely liked this girl.

"Karin!" Yuzu gasped.

"No Yuzu, it's time he came clean. And I swear if your friends attempt to wipe my memory one more time, I am going to kick their asses as well," she added, crossing her arms and glaring at her brother.

"I don't know where to start," Ichigo confessed.

"Try at the beginning," Karin suggested.

Ichigo let out another frustrated groan and shared a look with his father before turning his attention back to his sisters.

"Alright. Remember that 'car' that crashed into the house a while back?" he asked.

"Oh, I remember that!" Yuzu exclaimed.

"It was a hollow, not a car," Karin grunted.

Her brother and father stared at her.

"What, the memory wipe worked for maybe a week," she shrugged.

"Right, um, yeah, it was a hollow and not a car. Anyway, that same day I met Rukia and….."

The story was a long one and despite himself Grimmjow found himself curious as Ichigo relayed to his family everything. They had to stop at one point, right after he had rescued Rukia, because his father had pounded into him for doing something so dangerously stupid as taking on the fire bird thing while Yuzu had decided to make dinner since it was getting late.

After dinner Ichigo picked up the story again, and this time he started to get a bit nervous. Their initial meetings didn't go all that well and Yuzu looked horrified while Karin looked somewhere between pissed and amused.

"Do all boys make friends by beating each other into a bloody pulp first?" she questioned amused, "because it seems to be a running theme with you Ichi-nii," she pointed out.

Both of them stared at Karin in surprise. Yuzu seemed horrified, Isshin had a look in his eye that Grimmjow still couldn't place, and Karin seemed to be more amused than anything.

The story continued and Ichigo finally paused uncertainly before looking at their father. That was interesting. Isshin suddenly sighed and stood up, drawing everyone's attention to him.

The oldest Kurosaki poured a cup of coffee from the current pot that was going and brought it back to the table, refilling Karin's cup and, after a pause, Grimmjow's as well.

"I suppose you are old enough to know," Isshin sighed.

"Know what?" Karin asked her father coldly.

Taking a steadying sip of his coffee first, Isshin added his part of the story. Yuzu looked at their father in surprise while Karin just grunted as if she were not too surprised by the admission.

"Are you one too?" Yuzu asked her sister.

"No," Karin shrugged. "I've fended a few Hollows off when they have gotten too close, but otherwise still human like you," she smiled at her sister.

"Well that is a relief," Yuzu sighed. "It's bad enough worrying about Ichi-nii I am not sure I would be able to worry about both of you," she smiled back at her twin.

"Yeah, well, I know my limits," Karin assured her. "So now that we have gotten to defeating Aizen and such, are you finally going to tell us why your reiatsu is off?" Karin questioned.

There had been moments of hesitation throughout the story and it was now almost midnight. Ichigo seemed to be at a loss of words again and Grimmjow wondered if his Alpha would ever be able to actually explain this. Although truthfully, he was convinced that Ichigo still either didn't quite understand the concept or was still in denial.

"My reiatsu is off because Ichigo Dominated me in a test of skill and we successfully Mated," he answered the girl's question honestly.

"Huh?" Yuzu exclaimed.

Karin raised an eye in surprise.

Isshin's face was stony for a moment before he reached across the table and smacked his son, hard.

"You idiot, what about schooling? A father at your age, I thought I raised you better than that," Isshin roared.

"I didn't know this could happen," Ichigo shouted back, jumping to his own feet.

"Father?" Yuzu breathed in shock.

"So you're pregnant?" Karin asked surprised, ignoring the squabbling father and son just a few feet from them.

"Something like that," he admitted.

"And that is why your reiatsu if off kilter?"

"Yes,"

"Congrats I guess," Karin looked at the two fighting males before sighing in annoyance. "It's getting late, I am going to crawl into bed. You coming Yuzu?"

"Huh, oh, yeah I guess. We do got school tomorrow morning. Ichi-nii, Otousan, stop that please, you are leaving a bad impression for our guest," Yuzu begged.

"DAMN IT YOU USELESS BAG OF BONES!" Ichigo roared, successfully suplexing his father into the floor.

"AHH MASAKI-CHAN, OUR SON TURNED INTO A DELINQUENT BEHIND MY BACK," Isshin sobbed, rushing over to hug the large poster of a woman hanging on the wall.

"STOP THAT, IT'S CREEPY AS HELL," Ichigo slammed his father on the top of the head, knocking him unconscious. "Seriously," he grunted in frustration, "the sooner Urahara-san can open a portal the better."

Grimmjow stared at the violence in surprise. Apparently he might have had the Alpha of this household wrong.

"Come on, I don't want to deal with anymore of this shit tonight and I do got to get up in a few hours for school,"

"Yeah," he agreed, standing up and following Ichigo up the stairs to his room.

He didn't want to deal with Isshin anymore tonight either, especially alone. Even through the antics Grimmjow sensed the former Shinigami was watching him very carefully. He didn't blame the man, after all only a fool would let a predator into his den unwatched. The sooner they could get to Hueco Mundo the better.

Ichigo stripped down to his boxers before crawling into bed, moving aside to leave him room. He let the yukuta fall off of his shoulders before folding it and setting it on the desk. He crawled into the small bed and shifted under the offered covers.

"They handled it better than I would have thought, especially Karin," Ichigo commented.

He had no reply to that and didn't bother trying to form one. He would have been just as happy not meeting them but it had been unavoidable. It had been a long and trying day and he was already feeling drained despite his feeding the night before. Sleep was rather easy in the coming, especially with the warmth of his Alpha's body and reiatsu right beside him.

* * *

><p>Wow, thank you all so much for the amazing amount of feed back, I enjoyed reading the essay you sent Toringtino and I hope your poor monitor is alright Blackstorm. You are going to need it to keep posting the entries for the Grimmjow contest you got going on. As for being Evil, just ask my Boyfriend about that. It's in my contract with him to be evil *snicker.<p>

Well, here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoyed how everything went. Instead of boring us all with a verbal explanation of events we have all read and/or watched, I went with the lazy 'he explained everything to them' rout. No point rehashing everything we already know.

We will not see a conventional pregnancy; so no bloating, mood swings, strange cravens etc etc. What we well see is weakness as the child drains him to form itself and an unhappy, and slightly terrified, Espada as he is left weaker and weaker and FORCED to rely on his Alpha.


	11. Hueco Mundo

Hueco Mundo

The week passed quickly enough. Ichigo was gone most of the day, attending school and than studying _after_ school to catch up on missed work _and, _further more_,_ gathering an additional two months worth of material since he had informed his teachers he would be gone yet again. His Alpha's family more or less left him to his own devises during that week.

Yuzu couldn't see him and Karin would say hi when they passed each other, but otherwise stayed respectfully out of his way unless if he approached her first. One thing he did notice was that she worked swell for Hollow bait and he had managed to snag a few meals from the debased fools that foolishly went after her.

Surprisingly, his eating habits didn't seem to bother her too much and by the third day she had even agreed to act as bait for him when he asked it of her. They kept that little tidbit from Ichigo because they both knew the teen would freak out over it and she was in no real danger as long as he was there. The Hollows that showed up here were no match for even his depleted strength and he grudgingly admitted that the girl could throw a good kick if need be to defend herself, something that informed him that she's had to do so before he had met her and once more he questioned Ichigo's Sire about his deplorably lack of training for his other offspring. It was a mistake he definitely was not going to make with his own, regardless of gender.

Isshin watched him wearily, especially around his daughters, but seemed to be willing to leave well enough alone. Grimmjow even swore the former Shinigami knew about his and Karin's little hunting trips, but didn't request they stop nor did he interfere, although he was sure the former Shinigami was keeping an 'eye' on his daughter every time they did go hunting.

Now that his Alpha's family was home, he discovered that Ichigo's sexual cravens had dulled a little. When they did mate it was either late at night and Ichigo tried to keep it quiet so as not to disturb his family, it was also not the more violent play he was use to, or in the shower where the sound of running water covered their moans and the water washed away the scent, blood and semen from their joining.

It was once more a Sunday and they were expecting to head to Hueco Mundo the next morning. Ichigo's human friends were all here, from the Quincy boy to the girl that had spawned the invasion of Las Noches.

None of them seemed afraid of him and Orihime even greeted him warmly while the large boy named Sado, although Ichigo called him Chad for some strange reason, merely offered him a grunt in greeting and didn't speak much. He'd already had his stare down with the Quincy last week.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with you, Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked for probably the dozenth time.

"I am sure. There is no reason for you to miss school over me and there really isn't much of a threat there anymore now that Aizen and most of the Arrancar have been dealt with," Ichigo assured her.

The teen was packing a small duffle with some things he believed he needed for the trip. Grimmjow was still wearing the Yukuta Ichigo had given him the one day simply because it was comfortable and he really had no desire to go shopping about. That and Ichigo had commented he looked good in it, although he would never, EVER, confess to that being one of the reasons he was content to wear it.

"If you say so," Orihime sighed, but it was clear she was not happy with his decision.

"Look, if you don't hear from me by mid May you can come after me. It would also make me feel better knowing that you are all here to protect everyone during my absence," he assured her.

"Oh, okay!" she chirped happily. "You can count on us," she saluted smartly.

Ichigo's friends had taken the news about his upcoming fatherhood rather well, once the shock had worn off and they had managed to revive a heartbroken Orihime.

"Do you have everything, Ichigo?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, I think so. Urahara-san said he will have some MRE like meals for me to eat while we are there. I shouldn't need much. It's not like we are going to be there trying to impress anyone. Hopefully we won't even run into anyone. Honestly, most of this is my homework," Ichigo answered sheepishly.

"Waste of space," Grimmjow muttered.

He honestly had no idea why the teen felt it necessary to haul all that heavy weight around with them. Books were a waste of time in his mind. All that mattered was strength and weather or not you were more powerful than your opponent. Carrying around dead weight was just another way to get an idiot killed.

"Well, that's the last of it. You guys going to walk with us to Urahara's?" Ichigo asked.

"Of course!" Orihime exclaimed.

"Oi, you done?" Karin asked, coming into the room with a teary eyed Yuzu.

"You are going to come back safe, right Ichi-nii?" Yuzu asked with a sniff.

"Of course I will," Ichigo assured them, given both girls a hug, despite Karin's poor attempts at protesting. "Keep Goat Face in line while I am gone, alright,"

"Promise," Karin responded. "An ass kicking at least twice a day."

"That's my sister," he ruffled her hair much to her protest. "Alright, let's head out," Ichigo ordered, tossing his heavy duffle over his shoulder.

"What are you doing about your body?" Ishida asked as they walked down the stairs.

"Kon is going to take care of it while I am gone," Ichigo answered. "Hopefully he won't do anything stupid with it," he added.

"The stuffed animal your sister carries around?" Grimmjow asked in disbelief.

"He's actually a Mod Soul. You will see when we get to the shop; he's been hiding there since the family got back from vacation."

The trek to the shop was uneventful and the two brats were waiting outside to direct them in. Kon was already in the underground cavern with Kisuke.

"Ah, ready to go Kurosaki-kun?" Kisuke asked with a wide smile as the small group approached.

"Yeah, are these the MRE's?" he asked, checking out the large bag by Kisuke's side.

"Yes, with my own little twist so they should actually taste like real food." Kisuke answered.

"I hope so. Kon," Ichigo turned his head to the walking stuffed lion, "take care of my body and if I hear you have done anything perverted with it I'll give you to Yuzu for a year and let Ishida make the next 'Bostov Dress' at the same time," Ichigo threatened.

"You wouldn't," Kon gasped in horror.

"I could do an entire wardrobe," Ishida offered, adjusting his glasses in a way that actually almost made him look evil.

"I mean it," Ichigo said firmly.

Kisuke took his cane and thrust it at Kon. The stuffed animal fell over limply and a green pill popped out of his mouth. Ichigo swallowed the pill and burst from his human body.

Instantly the reiatsu from the teen skyrocketed as he was freed from his human constraints. He flexed his fingers a few times before nodding his head and tossing the two bags easily over his shoulder so they clanked against the giant meat cleaver that was his Zanpakuto.

"Alright, whenever you are ready," Ichigo nodded to Kisuke.

"Of course. But before I open the garganta, how do you plan on getting home this time?"

"I'll port 'em," Grimmjow answered with a grunt.

He had been standing off from the group and just wanted to get back to the desert and a reliable source of food. He swore the first thing he was going to make sure they did was to hunt down the toughest Adjucus they could find because if he didn't get a real meal soon he was going to be in trouble. Feeding from Ichigo again was NOT on his to do list.

"Alright," Kisuke answered after studying him for a moment.

With a leap the Shinigami landed on one of the two poles that had been set up.

"You remember what to do, Kurosaki-kun?" Kisuke questioned.

"Yeah I remember, just open the damn portal already," Ichigo snorted.

"For sure you don't want us to come?" Orihime asked worriedly.

"You are not the best at making paths, or planning," Ishida pointed out.

"Thank guys, but I would feel better knowing you are here taking care of the town and my family in my absence. We haven't heard from Soul Society since the war and I don't trust the idiot they got watching this town to do any sort of job," Ichigo declared.

The argument was getting stale and old and Grimmjow wondered why they kept rehashing it as nothing about the argument itself had changed, just the words used to describe the exact same thing.

"Good luck, Ichigo," Chad offered.

"Thanks."

Kisuke finished his long winded chant and the black maw of the garganta opened. It was hard to tell, but it looked like the shop keeper seemed a little upset that no one seemed to appreciate the show he had been putting on to open the gate.

"Ready?" Ichigo asked him.

"Tsh, we are just going home as far as I am concerned," Grimmjow snorted, kicking off of the ground and towards the portal.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ichigo sighed, also kicking off from the ground and leaping through into the gateway.

His path making skills hadn't improved any, but at least it served and truthfully Grimmjow didn't want to waste any reiatsu if he could avoid it. It was, in all honesty, just a relief to escape from the human world and his Alpha's entire annoying rabble of friends and family.

The trip through was relatively quick and they immerged out the other side into the moonlit dessert. Skeletal looking trees doted the landscape around them and off in the distance they could see the cracked dome that had once been Aizen's seat of power.

Instantly he felt slightly better as he breathed in the rich, desert air. The living realm's air was so thin that it was nice to be able to breath normally again. Regrettably, it did little to take the edge off of his hunger.

The roar of a nearby hollow did perk him up though. Beside him, Ichigo scowled as he looked towards where the noise had come from.

"Damn it, a fight already," the teen groused.

"Fuck that, I am hungry. I need to eat a real meal for a change instead of those weak fuckers that like going after Karin," he smirked in pleasure, ignoring the stunned teen and making his way towards the rapidly approaching reiatsu he could sense.

"Wait, what was that about Karin?" Ichigo demanded, jogging slightly to catch up to him.

It was an okay powered hollow and should suffice as an acceptable meal. Reluctantly he could already tell that he had been weakened, both by his pregnancy and semi starvation, to the point that the incoming Adjucus was actually stronger than he currently was. It had taken too long to return here and the realization he had become so depleted left a sick feeling in his stomach. Even with this incoming meal he might _still_ need to feed from the teen if he was going to regain any resemblance of strength. It was not a pleasing thought.

"Oi, I asked a question about my sister, I expect it answered," Ichigo snapped in irritation, his reiatsu lashing about in his frustration.

Grimmjow gasped and instantly cringed as his Alpha's displeased reiatsu slammed into him. Instinct cried for him to bear his belly and offer his throat to his clearly displeased Alpha, but he squashed the urge under and remained standing, all be it slightly hunched and in a defensive position.

"_He seriously needs to learn some self control," _he growled to himself.

He stared in shock as the Adjucus they had heard upon their arrival leaped from out of the sands and towards Ichigo. It was massive, many times their size. Grimmjow cursed his pregnant and slightly starved body while he quickly went for Pantera to defend himself.

Without even looking backwards at the attacking Hollow, Ichigo drew Zangetsu and slashed out behind him, nearly slicing the Adjucus in two as if it were nothing more than an annoying ant in their way.

Grimmjow felt a moment of anger that he had become so weakened that he could no longer defeat such a weak creature in the manner Ichigo just had, but the scent of blood was quickly filling the air and the need to feed rushed upon him. Rational thought was tossed out the window as instinct reared its head to make sure he, and his young, survived. Moving about submissively he slowly approached the carcase, weary for any further signs of aggression from his Alpha.

Ichigo still looked pissed, but didn't seem like he was about to deny his Beta a meal. His instinct assured that the meal was his to consume, he set about eating as quickly as he could before another could try and come to claim it or before his Alpha changed his mind. He completely ignored the look of disgust that crossed Ichigo's face as he tore into the flesh and gorged himself.

Ichigo seemed willing to let the conversation drop for the moment and walked a small distance away, presumably to keep guard although in actual fact the scene was making him slightly sick to his stomach.

The meal didn't take long to consume. One learned how to eat quickly least another come to challenge you for the meal. He felt rejuvenated and sleepy now that his belly was once more full. He approached Ichigo from the side so the teen had plenty of time to see and react to his presence.

"Do you think we'll see Nel?" he asked, apparently willing to drop the previous topic about his sister.

"Probably not," Grimmjow shrugged. "We should find shelter and head towards Las Noches after we have rested."

"Yeah. I hope we find those food things quickly, preferably without running into Kurotsuchi. From what Ishida told me of him, and the few time I have run into him, I really don't trust him much."

"He's a Shinigami, what's to trust?" Grimmjow grunted.

"You're a Hollow, what's to trust?" Ichigo shot back smartly.

"Nothing but Instinct," he answered the question without hesitation.

Ichigo didn't have a come back for that and after a moment the teen just sighed and started walking towards the ruins. After a second, Grimmjow followed, catching up quickly and walking by his side. It was best to camp away from the kill as the scent of blood was still in the air. They walked in silence for some time before Ichigo finally broke it.

"How often will you need to eat now that we are here?" he questioned.

"The air here is thicker, so that meal should hold me for a few days before I start to weaken again from hunger. Not so sure about what I can expect from the forming cub though. I may need to eat sooner if it draws off too much energy. Truthfully, a Dominated Hollow that is abandoned by the Sire doesn't have much hope of carrying to term."

"Because they will be eaten?"

"Partially, but also because if the body gets too weak it will abort and expel the unfinished egg."

"You mean miscarry?" Ichigo asked suddenly in concern.

"Yeah. Only the strong survive here, remember that. This isn't your cozy human world, this is Hueco Mundo."

Silence fell once more and he could tell that the teen seemed to be thinking deeply. The walk was getting exhausting and all he really wanted to do was curl up and digest his meal. Ichigo must have sensed his flagging because the teen suddenly stopped and declared they were making camp.

It was a good distance from the kill and if he could no longer smell the blood then most hollows would not be able to either. Ichigo pulled out what looked like some rope, two fold up poles and a large piece of brown cloth out of the bag Kisuke had given them.

It didn't take long to get the inverted V shaped tent set up. It was small, there was barely room for the both of them and their heads would brush the ceiling sitting up, but it was more than enough to cover them while they slept. There were other items in the bag and Grimmjow watched as Ichigo rolled out a sleeping mat and pulled out a blanket as well.

"A portable den, useful," he admitted reluctantly.

"Yeah, Urahara's idea. Go ahead and rest if you want. I am going to grab something to eat and do some studying," Ichigo offered.

"Just don't get distracted. I don't want to wake up because someone is turning me into its next meal," he ordered.

"I won't," Ichigo promised.

He didn't need a second invitation and crawled into the rather cozy little tent. With a full belly, reishi heavy air, the reiatsu of his Alpha but a few feet away and being surrounded by dark warmth, it was not difficult to doze off into a comfortable slumber.

He didn't stir again until he felt Ichigo join him under the blanket, the teen's reiatsu coursing wildly and obvious arousal poking into his thigh. When he dared to open an eye it was to stare into the golden ones of Feral Ichigo.

"_I figured the atmosphere would affect him like this," _he thought in annoyance as he obediently bared his throat, showing his submission and acceptance of his Alpha's demands.

Now that they were in Hueco Mundo, a world ran by instinct more than anything else, the need to have his Alpha's scent markers on him was that much more important. With the strength of Ichigo's reiatsu scent most Hollows would give him a wide berth and those that didn't would become dinner.

Ichigo didn't play with him for long and at least the teen had included the bottle of oil in his bag of gear. His Alpha took him from behind this time, ridding him hard and quick and making sure his scent was all over his Beta by rubbing their bodies together as much as was physically possible.

He slept deeply after that and didn't wake again until he felt Ichigo stirring softly beside him. Not interested in mating again, he quickly pulled on the Yukuta and escaped the tent before his Alpha could awaken enough to demand attention. The scent markers were strong and there was no reason to refresh them again this quickly.

The sky looked no different than it ever had, black with nothing but a pale, crescent moon shinning. The sky wasn't what instantly grabbed his attention in a jerk of sudden fear though. No, it was the fact that once he stepped outside the tent Ichigo's reiatsu simply vanished as if it was no longer or ever, here.

He whirled about, a sense of relief washing over him as he realized that yes; the tent was still there even if it blended in so well he doubted he would see it if he walked more than ten feet away and didn't know it was there.

"Clever," he admitted reluctantly.

It made him feel a bit better to know that they could sleep relatively safely. The teen's lack of control had been a small concern of his, but truthfully he was expecting Ichigo to act as very effective Hollow bait. There were always fools that believed they could take on anything and Ichigo was a walking target with his high level of reiatsu and complete lack of control. They would come for miles and the teen wouldn't need to hunt for him, he would simply needed to defend them and the meals would pile up without the need to go looking for them.

* * *

><p>Thank you everyone for your awesome reviews. Why on earth would the hollow hole disappear just because they get knocked up? Strange thing to do. Anyhow, just wait until you see how I plan on having him 'lay the egg.' Trust me, it is going to make perfect sense in a cannon way. Now off to edit and update my real baby, Prize of Victory.<p> 


	12. Las Noches

Las Noches

Ichigo was unable to watch as Grimmjow ate the hollow that had attacked them upon arrival. It touched a part of him he didn't like and H'tsu suggesting that they 'eat as well' did nothing to help. It was a relief to move away from the kill, or rather the puddle of blood that was left, and more of a relief to learn that there was a good chance they would make it to Las Noches and the synthetic food that would keep Grimmjow fed without needing to hunt again.

"_**You wont need to hunt King, they will come to you,"**_ H'tsu pointed out. _**"Unless, of course, you suddenly learn how to control your reiatsu,"**_ he added.

Ichigo scowled, but couldn't deny H'tsu's words. Hollows were attracted to strong sources of reiatsu and he might as well be blaring a horn and set up flashing signs to show where he was. It would probably be more subtle.

The other part of their conversation was burning at his mind though. He had never even paused to consider the chance that Grimmjow could miscarry their young if he didn't eat regularly, and while he was still having problems coming to terms that A) Grimmjow was 'pregnant' and B) he was going to be a father, the thought of a miscarry had him deeply worried.

"_How weak does he need to be before a miscarriage becomes a possibility?"_ he asked H'tsu concerned.

"_**He**__**'**__**s strong,**__**"**_ H'tsu admitted reluctantly, "_**so a lot weaker than this, but do you truly wish to chance fate and risk your cub King? If you want the cub to be born strong you should feed him daily.**__**"**_

He fought back a scowl at the thought and wrestled with his moral dilemmas. Hopefully, if all went well, they would find food at Las Noches and he wouldn't need to hunt.

"_And if you can not?"_ Zangetsu asked.

Ichigo gave an inward sigh. As much as the thought disturbed him he knew what he would do. He wouldn't want to have to resort to it, but if his child's life was on the line he would do what was necessary.

"_Than I will hunt for him,"_ he answered reluctantly.

He felt Zangetsu's approval of his decision.

"_**My earlier offer still stands King, I can hunt for ya,"**_ H'tsu offered.

This time he couldn't stop the scowl from crossing his face. There was no chance in hell he was letting H'tsu out. Hell would freeze a dozen times over first before that happened.

"_Regardless, we should stop. He needs to rest,"_ Zangetsu pointed out.

Ichigo glanced over at his companion and noticed that Zangetsu was right. Grimmjow was starting to lag slightly in exhaustion, but was clearly too damn stubborn to request they stop.

Ichigo couldn't get annoyed because he reluctantly admitted he would be just as foolishly stubborn. Now that he was stopping to notice the world around him, he noticed he was getting ravenous as well. Now would be a good time to stop and rest. Las Noches wasn't going anywhere and the conversation about miscarrying still weighed heavily on his mind.

He came to a stop and noticed that Grimmjow didn't protest in the least, in fact he seemed relieved, although he did a pretty good job of hiding it. Ichigo dropped the two bags from his shoulders and quickly dug through the one Kisuke had given him. It didn't take long to get the little tent set up.

"A portable den, useful," Grimmjow admitted with clear reluctance.

"Yeah, Urahara's idea. Go ahead and rest if you want. I am going to grab something to eat and do some studying," Ichigo offered.

"Just don't get distracted. I don't want to wake up because someone is turning me into it's next meal,"

"I won't," Ichigo promised.

Grimmjow crawled into the tent, his reiatsu completely disappearing as he did so. Ichigo wasn't really that surprised. He knew there had to be more to the material than met the eye. If it hadn't had some strange properties than it would not have come from Kisuke.

He pulled out one of the meals and set about preparing it while contemplating on which subject he should work on. By the time the admittedly good meal of pre packaged fried rice was finished he had decided and pulled out the appropriate text books.

He tried to concentrate on it, he really did, but after reading the same page six times he gave up. His mind was just not on studying, but rather on the dilemma in the tent behind him.

There was so little about what was going to happen that he understood, and he was honestly just too damn stubborn, and distrustful, of H'tsu to ask. Unfortunately, he knew he could not remain ignorant for very long. The 'egg' would be laid in just three weeks, and after that, if he got it right, it would hatch in another four. In less than two months he would be a father.

He wondered what their child would even look like. Would it be human like him or a Hollow like Grimmjow? Would it be a Vizard maybe? He honestly didn't think it would be human since humans were most definitely not born this way.

Thinking of physiology, did that mean that since he was human that Grimmjow couldn't impregnate him? As far as he knew Shinigami gave birth in the conventional, well conventional for humans, way. But if that was the case than how had _he _impregnated Grimmjow? Was it because he was a Vizard and Grimmjow had the appropriate system already in place?

Suddenly he wished he had spent a bit of time with Kisuke and let the man take a closer look at what was going on with him and, more importantly, what he had become. His thoughts turned back to Grimmjow and how the other had been acting since being Dominated.

Would instinct make him act like that as well? If somehow he had been the one Dominated would be he be acting like Grimmjow was now? All submissive and silently asking for permission for a half dozen different things? He really had no desire to find out. Being a father was going to be hard enough, he was fairly certain he did not want to try his hand at motherhood.

Thinking of Grimmjow reminded him all too easily of how sweet the other's blood tasted and before he knew it he felt himself getting hard and a desire to taste more of that blood rose up quickly within him.

He was use to the urges now, and less afraid of them since it had been explained to him, but the urge had never come so sharply, so strongly, before.

"_**Now that we are here, there truly is a more pressing danger and your Instinct understands and recognizes this. You should Mate him often King, let other's know he is yours,"**_ H'tsu spoke up.

"_He is right,"_ Zangetsu added before Ichigo could snap back.

He recalled all too easily how it felt to be inside his Beta, how sweet the other's blood tasted. Before he even realized it he was moving towards the tent. The need was burning through his blood but he, somehow, still had the presence of mind to curse his hormonally driven, teenage body.

Grimmjow was asleep as he entered the space, but he felt the Espada stir as he settled beside him under the blanket. Blue, sleepy eyes stared up into his own with a slight amount of annoyance, but he was quick enough to obediently bare his throat, showing his submission.

The instinctual part of Ichigo's mind was pleased at the display and he nuzzled the offered throat contently, nipping it only once to lap at the small beads of blood before deciding to reward his Beta with a quick remarking instead of drawing out the mating and draining the Espada's energy.

He pulled out the bottle of oil he had wisely packed and gently prepared his silent and sleepily submissive Beta. His instinct was pleased and he felt his groin going painfully tight and desperate for attention.

There wasn't much room in the tent so he adjusted them accordingly, settling Grimmjow's hips on a pillow to lift him slightly off of the ground and taking him from behind. He rode him firm and rather quickly, making sure his scent was all over his Beta and refraining from drawing too much blood. The scent of blood would only serve to attract others.

Release came quickly and he untangled their bodies shortly after. He had barely adjusted them into a comfortable sleeping position before he noticed Grimmjow was once more deeply asleep.

Ichigo took longer to fall asleep as his instinct was slow to climb down. It always felt so strange to him when his Instinct reared up. It was almost like being in a living dream and a part of him feared it while another part was just happy that some part of him clearly knew what it was doing.

Instinct is what had gotten him through so many of the trials he had faced, and he found Instinct at least easier to trust than H'tsu.

"_**I am your Instinct,"**_ H'tsu huffed irritably in his mind.

"_So is Zangestsu,"_ Ichigo countered sleepily.

"_**No, he is your reason,"**_ H'tsu huffed.

"_Whatever_," Ichigo muttered, too tired and sated to get drawn into an argument.

He wasn't sure when he fell into slumber, but he woke up when he felt Grimmjow shifting in his arms. The Espada slipped out of the tent in an obvious attempt not to wake him.

He stretched and yawned before flopping over to take up more of the meagre space. It was clear that Grimmjow wanted some alone time and Ichigo was more than willing to give it to him.

In all honestly, he was still surprised at how well Grimmjow was handling this whole situation. He had expected to have had to fend off a furious Grimmjow half a dozen times by now, but it would seem the Arrancar was slipping into his role with a surprising amount of grace. He wondered if he would be able to do so had their situations been reversed.

"_**He's smarter than you King, he knows better than to fight instinct. Ignoring your Instinct here will lead to a rather quick death," **_H'tsu spoke up sleepily.

Ichigo sighed, but silently conceded the other was right.

"_You are learning well, Ichigo,"_ Zangetsu assured him. _"But H'tsu is right, you must learn to embrace your Instinct while here or you may die or lose your child,"_

That made him feel better for all of a minute. As much as he wanted to give Grimmjow some much needed breathing space, staying in one place for too long was both dangerous in such a wide open location and detrimental to their mission. Las Noches was their target and he hoped they would make it there today. Distance was almost impossible to judge here, but he was fairly certain they should make it by evening, or what passed for evening around here.

He stretched and exited the tent. Grimmjow was nearby, looking off towards Las Noches but the Espada did turn his attention to him as he approached.

"Hey," Ichigo greeted him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah,"

"I am going to pack up and grab something to eat before we head out. How long do you think it will take to reach the city?"

"We should make it by evening," Grimmjow answered.

So his estimation was right, they should make it by evening.

He took down the tent and packed everything away. It didn't take long and he grabbed a quick meal before they started walking once again. They walked in silence for several hours, Las Noches slowly growing as they approached it.

"So, which end of Las Noches are these meal things kept?" Ichigo asked.

"From here, the east end. Szaeyl's labs are more North so hopefully we won't run into any of the Shinigami trash that freak mentioned," Grimmjow grunted before casting a look Ichigo's way, "but I doubt it unless you suddenly learn how to keep that reiatsu of yours in check."

"Oh, right," Ichigo blushed embarrassed before stopping to set down the two bags.

He rooted through the one Kisuke had given him and quickly pulled out a simple, black cloak. He pulled it over his shoulders and tied it off before pulling the hood up.

"Better?" He asked.

It must have been working because Grimmjow was looking at him stunned.

"Tshu, bloody scientist," he muttered in annoyance.

"There is another one in here if you want it. It might not be a bad idea since we have no idea if there are any sensors or other devices set up around the perimeter."

He could see the dilemma play out across the Espada's face before Grimmjow finally sighed and held out a hand. Taking that as a yes Ichigo handed him the second cloak and watched as Grimmjow reluctantly pulled it on.

Ichigo was never the best at sensing reiatsu, but for some reason he was always in tune with his friends. It was rather unnerving to have Grimmjow's presence suddenly vanish right before him and he decided he definitely didn't like it.

"_**How do you think he feels King? Until the Cub is born you are his only real form of protection and reliable source of food,"**_ H'tsu pointed out.

"The sooner we can get that food for Urahara-san to replicate, the better," Ichigo muttered aloud.

All _three_ of his companions made an agreeing sound and they continued on their trek through the sands.

(break)

He couldn't help it. No matter how hard he tried he constantly kept looking out of the corner of his eye to assure himself that even though he couldn't feel him, Ichigo was still right there beside him.

It was disconcerting and he couldn't wait to get this mission over and done with. Truthfully, he didn't care about the food packets. His instincts yelled at him to find a safe den to hole up in, and instantly Ichigo's room came to his mind. He scowled and tried to force the image away, but it didn't work very well and, he realized in disgust, that he was once again staring at Ichigo out of the corner of his eye.

"_I can't wait until this shit is over. As soon as the Cub is old enough to fend for itself I swear I am going to throw him to the ground and let him feel just what it's like to be Dominated and feel all this submissive, insecure, Instinctual bullshit,"_ he snarled. _"One week down, three to go until the cub is out."_

Despite himself, he wrapped a hand around his stomach under the cloak. His stomach gave a twinge as he felt the budding reiatsu respond to his own. He gasp and stumbled as he felt a sudden drain of power come over him.

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo called concerned.

"I am fine," he snapped, but the end cut off in a gasp.

The cub was drawing his power, feeding from his own reiatsu and draining him to form itself. Dear Kami it was a very unpleasant feeling to experience, like he was being drained of his life force at a rather alarming rate.

"Fuck," he cursed.

The meal he had eaten the day before had fortified his strength, and now it seemed that the Cub was taking that strength for itself to grow.

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo asked again.

"I am fine," he snapped again, forcing himself to stand up straight. _"__No wonder so few make it to the end. I had no idea the cub would draw this much from me,__"_ he thought worried.

He instinctively knew some things, but he had no idea about how the rest was actually suppose to go. He had no idea that the Cub would be drawing this much of his reiatsu. He needed to feed again soon and despite himself, he found that the idea of getting to Las Noches, and the pre made meals that Aizen had forced them to eat, very appealing.

"Unless if you want to go hunting, I suggest we keep moving," he snapped at a concerned looking Ichigo, forcing himself to stand up straight.

Ichigo seemed to think about it for a second, before giving him a look that suggest the Shinigami was about to suggest something that Grimmjow knew he wasn't going to like. And by the looks of it, Ichigo knew he wasn't going to like it.

"I got a suggestion," Ichigo offered hesitantly.

"What?" he ground out.

"I can uh, get us there real quick if I switch into my Bankai and uh…."

"Are you fucking suggesting you _carry_ me to Las Noches?" he demanded half in shock and half in furry.

"It will get us there a lot faster," Ichigo shot back, "and we know there is food there," Ichigo paused, his head cocked to the side like he always did when he was listening to his Zanpakuto and/or Hollow.

Despite himself he felt his back stiffen. Things that involved H'tsu generally didn't turn out well. He felt his back stiffen even more when Ichigo looked at him with a fresh look of determination.

"You need to eat and soon. So either you can let me get us there quickly, or we can stop and you can eat right now," Ichigo said firmly.

He felt disgust well up at the threat. There was only one way for him to eat right now and he sure as hell was NOT doing that again. As much as the thought of being carried sickened him, the thought of feeding from Ichigo again was far more sickening.

He found himself growling in anger, but in the end he had to concede that Ichigo had a point. He was once more nearly completely drained and his hunger was growing desperately, so much so that the thought of feeding from Ichigo was actually half tempting.

He felt his disgust rise at the back of his throat and he forced himself to swallow the bile that threatened to come up before given a reluctant nod of his head. It was humiliating, but far less humiliating than being forced to feed from the teen.

Ichigo nodded his head and drew his blade. It was beyond strange to watch Ichigo change before him with a call, and yet feel not an ounce of the surging reiatsu that washed from the hybrid. Ichigo stood before him and they just looked at each other for a moment before Ichigo took a step forward and grasped onto his shoulder.

"I am going to go all out, so hold on tightly," Ichigo warned, bringing a hand up to his face.

"Chu, like any speed you could…"

He never got to finish his sentence as the horned mask came down over Ichigo's face and suddenly the world was in a blur. He gasped in shock as the walls of Las Noches seemed to race towards them and the wind whipped their cloaks about. He had no idea Ichigo could travel this fast and once more he realized the teen had been holding out about his true abilities during their sparing matches. It was a silent and rather firm reminder as to just how powerful Ichigo truly is.

He barely had time to finish cussing the hybrid before they were suddenly bursting through the walls and coming out of the shunpo, if that was even what Ichigo had used, onto the sand under the false sky Aizen had built over the ancient fortress.

"Which way?" Ichigo asked, his voice gravely from the mask.

The sound sent a chill up Grimmjow's spine and it took a moment for him to get his bearing, not to mention even register what the question had been.

"That way," he pointed.

"Alright."

"Oi, I can walk from here," he snapped as Ichigo made to take off again.

Golden eyes bore into his and he found himself gulping and fighting down a nervous sweat. He dropped his gaze submissively and went limp in his alpha's arm. He had forgotten how much more primal Ichigo was quickly becoming here, more so while accessing his hollow powers. There was just something about Hueco Mundo that called to a Hollow's instincts.

The world blurred by again and they stopped once more by a service entrance. It took him a moment to gather his wits about him and for the world to stop spinning. He cursed his lack of reiatsu and blamed that for his inability to follow the movement.

"Where to from here?" Ichigo questioned, his voice still gravely.

"This way," he answered, taking the lead and began the familiar trek through the corridors towards the food storage rooms.

Ichigo dropped his mask, but not his Bankai, and followed him. There was no telling who, or what, they might run into on their way through the castle. It was still rather unnerving not being able to sense the Shinigami standing beside him, but he was fairly positive that, even in his weakened state, he would still be able to sense the others who were rumoured to be here.

He was getting no reading from anywhere in the fortress right now, but that didn't mean much. Unlike Ichigo, most Shinigami knew how to conceal their reiatsu and in this world of Hollows a Shinigami, even a Taichou, would be foolish to let it flare out. No doubt there were shields set up to cover their reiatsu from long range detection.

Szayel's lab was a fair distance away though, and Las Noches spanned several hundred kilometres. It was unlikely that they would run into anyone even if the Shinigami were still here.

It didn't take long to get to the store room and he quickly began to root through the boxes. His hunger was becoming unbearable and if he didn't eat soon he swore he might actually beg his Alpha to feed him.

Finally, his hands fell upon the right container and he ripped it open to reveal the packet of solidified reiatsu. He had no idea how Szayel made them, and he really didn't want to know either.

He tore the packed open and tore a large chuck out of the taffy like substance. It still tasted like nothing, but he felt the reiatsu quickly dissolve in his stomach as he swallowed and the effect was similar to eating cotton candy. He finished the first packet and tore into a second. By the end of a third he finally felt full. One was suppose to be a full meal to an Esapda so it just proved how drained he was that he had needed _three_ to recharge.

"So, uh, I take it these are what we are looking for," Ichigo commented, picking up a packet and studying it. "Do they taste good?"

"They don't taste like much of anything," he answered.

Now that his stomach was full again, the need to sleep was coming over him rather quickly. He quickly called up a mental map of Las Noches to determine where they were and felt a small amount of relief to realize they were rather close to his personal quarters.

"Come one, my old room isn't too far from here," he ordered, grabbing an armload of the packets.

Ichigo joined him, stuffing the packets into both of his backpacks, filling what space was left in them, before grabbing a few of the boxes as well.

"Lead the way."

(break)

Ichigo was honestly not sure what to expect out of Grimmjow's room, but it was surprisingly clean and actually rather bare. It was more like an apartment than a bedroom. The only thing that really stood out in the very organized and clean set of rooms was the large bed in the bedroom. Actually, it wasn't as much a bed as a sort of nest of large, black pillows and a few blue, fuzzy blankets. It was the only part of the room that wasn't completely neat. There wasn't even dust on anything.

Now he wasn't as smart as Ishida or Kisuke were, but he wasn't an idiot either. The lack of dust in a room that should have been abandoned for months, especially in a desert full of sand, spoke volumes.

"You are still living here," he stated in slight surprise.

"Yeah, why shouldn't I?" Grimmjow grunted, making his way towards the nest.

Grimmjow untied his belt and let the Yukuta slide from his shoulders, catching it at the elbows before pulling it off completely and folding it neatly. He placed it on a nearby desk and crawled into the nest, curling up and sighing in content.

"Aren't you worried that you might have been discovered?" Ichigo asked.

"Not really. The walls of the Espada's rooms are reinforced so we didn't accidentally kill off the lower Arrancar with our reiatsu when we were in a foul mood. Outside this room you can't feel a damn thing in here," Grimmjow muttered.

"I see, so I can safely shed the cloak?"

"Go ahead."

It was a relief to take the thing off. Clearly Grimmjow planned on sleeping, and Ichigo left him to it. Exploring the suit he discovered there really wasn't much to it. Rather large Bathroom with a huge tub, a comfortable living room with the usual couch, loveseat, chair around coffee table arrangement. There was no kitchen, but he supposed that Arrancar really had no use for such a thing. There was a decent sized balcony but he didn't dare check it out just in case the reiatsu shield didn't extend that far.

After checking the place out he walked up to the nest of pillows. Grimmjow didn't even stir and continued to slumber peacefully.

With a shake of his head, he returned to the living room and started pulling out his texts books and binders. He might as well get some work done while the other was sleeping. Kami knew how long they would be able to remain here or how long they would be able to relax. His experiences led him quickly to believe that moments of relaxation tended not to last very long.

* * *

><p>Really busy, not sure when I will get a chance to update again. Loved the reviews, see you all when I get six seconds to breath and write. I am quickly running out of prewritten material.<p> 


	13. In the Shadows

Hope this helps you feel better Storm

In the Shadows

Grimmjow cried out in pleasure as his body was blissfully tormented by his Alpha before whimpering and burrowing his face into the pillow he was laying against in an attempt to prevent any more embarrassing noises from escaping his throat. Behind him Ichigo continued to roughly thrust into him, his tongue swiping up the blood on his Beta's back from the claw marks that had been administered earlier during their _first_ round.

He was right, being in Hueco Mundo had affected his Alpha considerably. Ichigo was far more aggressive and confident in his assertiveness here, and as much as it galled him to bare his throat in submission to the hybrid, it was also some of the most intense pleasure he had ever felt. His Alpha was _very_ attentive to his needs and desires.

Ichigo gave off a feral snarl and a yank on his hair pulled his head back, causing his back to arch and his throat to be bared for the teens hungry mouth. Both of them were soaked in sweat and a small amount of blood. It annoyed him slightly that the only one of the two of them currently out of breath was himself. Ichigo had discovered far too many of his pleasure buttons while he never had the chance to learn any of the teen's. It gave the hybrid a rather strong advantage for these sessions.

"Do you want more?" Ichigo demanded huskily, pausing in his thrusts while his breath ghosting over an ear, forcing yet _another_ shiver of anticipation out of him.

Grimmjow caught sight of the teen's, golden, feral eyes out of the corner of his own. The teens reiatsu fluctuated wildly about them with no signs of abating anytime soon. It was as high as ever and he felt the hairs on his skin rise as the teen's power overwhelmed his own, weakened reiatsu.

He gave out a keening noise, refusing to admit that yes, he bloody well wanted more. He was hard as a rock for the second time this afternoon, or what passed for afternoon in Hueco Mundo, thanks to Ichigo's rather attentive attention, but he damn well refused to beg. He would never stoop so low, become so desperate, that he would actually **beg** for the attention his body desperately craved.

As much as he was loving the feeling of being Dominated by the powerful creature that was Kurosaki Ichigo, he refused to surrender to his rival. But each day, each Domination he went through, made it harder and harder to resist the teens charms. His Instinct roared at him to appease his Alpha, to let the other male lavish him in pleasure and food while he remained curled up content in their nest and their young grew stronger inside of him. Meanwhile, his Pride snarled and snapped at him to never give in so easily to his Rival, to do everything himself because he was not some weakly that needed his hand held.

Even now, just over two weeks after his initial Domination, his mind was still in a crux over the situation. The instinctual part of him was thrilled and excited his first offspring was on the way while the part that housed his pride as a warrior and a king among Hollows snarled and snapped at the chains that had relegated him to the status of being a Beta.

All thought was quickly thrown out the window and another groan of pleasure was torn from his lips as Ichigo moved behind him, torturing his prostate with that long, thick, hot, pulsing piece of flesh that was buried deep within his body.

"Damn it Kurosaki," he panted heavily. "I fucking hate you," he spat with as much venom as he could, but it didn't really sound all that threatening when he could hardly breath and he doubted he looked intimidating at all.

The teen chuckled briefly, the teens chest vibrating against the skin of his back, before nuzzling his neck and licking his throat, a purr of pleasure coming past his Alpha's lips.

"I could always stop right here," Ichigo whispered into his ear.

Kami damn it on high, he hated this, even as his body gave off a shiver of pleasure as Ichigo's breath went past his ear. Oh the things he was going to subject the Shinigami want-to-be to after this was all over and he took his rightful place as Alpha.

"Do you want me to stop? I told you before that I won't force you to do anything you don't want to," the teen teased.

Grimmjow snarled and remained ridged in his defiance before finally sighing and giving a soft nod of his head in surrender. It was the best the teen was ever going to get out of him.

The thrusts continued, quick, deep and hard, just the way his body loved it. Nails dug into his skin, drawing blood that his Alpha was all to pleased to lick up. His throat was mauled and once more pants and moans of pleasure were pulled from his throat against his will. Thought process was instantly eliminated and all that was left was the pleasure coursing through his veins as his Alpha reminded him, and all those who would cross his path, just who was the Dominant.

He roared as he came, shuddering in his release before finally going limp against his pillows, but definitely not still. His Alpha continued to pound into him, jerking his body about slightly before going still for a moment. It was only a breath of release before the pounding started up once more, quicker and harsher until with a roar of his own Grimmjow felt the hot seed of his Alpha pump into him.

Only after resting for several minutes against his back did the teen finally sigh and pull out, golden eyes slowly returning to the more normal brown. It was a sign he had learned meant his Alpha was finally appeased and he could rest in comfortable slumber.

He always wondered why Ichigo's eyes changed like that and if the teen was even aware of it. It only happened when the had intercourse and, in all honesty, he loved the feral, golden gaze. When Ichigo got into this mood it was as if his power grew ten times and his aggression definitely rose.

But even caught up in the throws of marking and Dominating, not once had Ichigo ever not seen to Grimmjow's own pleasure. In fact, Ichigo seemed to make it a game to see just how many whimpers and moans he could wring out of his Beta. It was a game that Grimmjow loved due to the intense pleasure that went with it, and yet hated because to him it denoted a sign of weakness and dependence.

"_Fucking hell! The bastard makes being Dominated actually worth it. I am becoming far too accustom to the damn pleasure that when the next round comes, and their **will** be another round, I almost worry my body will surrender against my will because it has become so damn use to submitting to Kurosaki and is becoming trained to respond with submission to him,"_ he growled in annoyance before sighing in defeat.

"_Who the fuck do I think I am kidding? The bastard has actually been fairly good to me,"_ he couldn't help but to think with a hint of fondness. _"Rule one; trust your Instinct. I foolishly ignored it when Aizen came along and look where that got me. My Instinct choose him to come out on top so there must be good reason for it. Our young will be strong and I got a strong feeling that this definitely won't be our only mating. Any cubs he produces are going to be strong._

"_I need to stop over thinking this shit. He's god in the sack, attentive, and I know he won't fuck off on me regardless of how weakened this bloody condition leaves me, nor will he run regardless of the strength of any foe that would come after us or our offspring. Damn it, I know he wont leave even after the egg is laid, let alone after the cub is hatched. No, he will stick around to the very end, and there are damn few Sires that would do that. _

"_Bloody, stupid Instinct. As far as potential Alpha's go, yeah, I'll admit there sure as hell ain't much better than him out there. If any of my own kind survived the likelihood of finding them, let alone one worthy of breeding with, is fairly fucking slim. Options really suck right now, and without Aizen's little toy those options are just about the sum of it,"_ he admitted reluctantly.

Vasto Lorde were damn rare and Ichigo was at least a compelling specimen. If it hadn't been for the fact the teen was a hybrid and their initial meeting had been as Shinigami and Hollow, he might have actually warmed up to the brat sooner.

Despite his conflicting and soul searching thoughts, sleep was pulling him down rather quickly as exhaustion took over his body. It seemed to be all he was capable of doing nowadays. Sleeping, eating like a starved animal and being Dominated, frequently, by his Alpha. The only real time he left the nest was when he retreated to the bathroom to clean himself up or when the nest needed a good cleaning or re-arranging.

"_At the rate I am eating, Ichigo might have to hunt down some more of those damn food kits,"_ he grumbled in annoyance before finally letting sleep fully claim him. _"Or actually start hunting, but I doubt that will happen anytime soon. Even if he did start to hunt he would need to range rather far from the nest to find any prey worth eating."_

That thought did not sit well with him. He did not like the thought of Ichigo being too far away. Even then he would have to possibly hunt for days and being left alone that long in his weakened state left him cringing.

"_Think not of what can not be changed, only what you can do to change what you can,"_ he thought. _"For now, rest is what I need, rest to make sure the cub can grow strong."_

He let himself drift off into comfortable slumber, where dreams of stalking the desert and teaching his cub to hunt ran pleasantly through his mind. He could never see what the cub would look like, it was always wrapped in shadows. Sometime he was back in his Adjucus form and sometimes Ichigo was hunting with them. The dreams only had one thing in common with each other; his cub was strong and by his side.

(POV)

Ichigo stepped out of the bathroom, roughly drying his hair with a towel before tossing it into the pile of dirty laundry to be done later. He didn't think anything of his nudity anymore. It was only the two of them and they honestly almost spent more time naked than they did dressed. It had made him a little uncomfortable at first, but now he didn't even think twice about it as he strutted around nude.

He checked on Grimmjow first, pleased to note the other was resting easily and sleeping comfortable. The 'pregnancy' was taking its toll on the Espada and often left him drained of energy and exhausted. Assured that all was well with his Beta and their young, he moved over to the pile of clothing that was still clean.

He did pull his black hakama back on because sitting down to do school work naked still felt kind of strange. With a held back groan he pulled the first textbook towards himself and dug out a pen. He had a lot of work to do if he didn't want to fall too far behind and give up any chance he had at a future in the living world.

Hours later, when the Kanji on his report started to blur in his vision, Ichigo knew it was time to take a break and get some much needed sleep. But first, he desperately needed something to eat. He had to give it to Kisuke, the MRE's he had provided were actually really good and he found himself digging through his bag to grab one at random, wondering what meal he would get this time.

He highly suspected that some level of Kido went into making these things, for all he had to do was pull a string, wait two minutes and the meal would be ready for him to peel the lid off and eat. He watched the meal curiously as he set it down and pulled the string. It started to steam almost immediately and two minutes later the white top turned red, indicating it was both ready and hot.

Peeling the lid off carefully, to avoid being burned by the cloud of steam that erupted from the meal, a serving of seafood tempura was revealed. Ichigo gave a shake of his head in wonder before grabbing his chopsticks and digging in. He wondered who actually made the food, because he doubted that Kisuke was this good of a cook.

Meal finished he cleaned up a bit before stripping down. Resting Zangestsu nearby he joining Grimmjow in the nest. It was already rather warm thanks to the Espada's body heat and Grimmjow shifted and made a protesting noise at the cold air that penetrated his nest as Ichigo crawled under the blankets to join him.

Settled in, Ichigo curled up around his bed mate and had to hold back a smile of amusement as Grimmjow unconsciously nestled closer to him before going still in slumber once more.

He enjoyed watching Grimmjow sleep, when all the stress and hard lines of his face relaxed and an almost soft expression was revealed, an expression that spoke volumes to Ichigo about just how well of a parent Grimmjow would be to their cub.

"_**You have been 'ridding' him pretty hard lately King,"**_ H'tsu commented sleepily. _**"I don't doubt that he definitely knows who the Alpha is now,"**_ the hollow chuckled amused.

"_Shut up H'tsu,"_ Ichigo muttered in sleepy annoyance.

"_**I got to say, coming here is the best thing you have ever done. It's about time that you embraced your instincts and finally stopped being such a pussy, to be a true King. The offspring should be powerful,"**_ H'tsu said in a voice that actually sounded relatively pleased with himself.

"_I would just be happy if it turns out humanish,"_ Ichigo sighed.

He tried not to think too much about the fact he was going to be a father soon anymore than he spent the time wondering just 'what' his child was going to be, let alone look like. There was one thing he was sure of though; regardless of looks or race, he would do the best he damn well could for the child, and the one who bore it.

It was gradual, but ever so slowly the two of them had come to some sort of understanding and balance. He had heard of nesting parents before, but Grimmjow was almost bringing it to the extreme. The room was never clean enough and he spent a large amount of the time he was awake adjusting the pillows and blankets of his bed, never seeming to be satisfied.

It had actually been H'tsu's suggestion to throw on the reiatsu concealing cloak and go exploring for more 'nesting material.' The idea seemed amusing at first, but Ichigo understood that a bit of alone time would do them both good, so nesting material hunting he had gone. What he hadn't expected was how well the pile of blankets and pillows he had brought back was received. He would have to see if he could find more nesting material because, as much as he enjoyed being the one in control of the situation, it was sometimes nice to just lay back and be the one spoiled.

He was pretty damn tired, what with the great sex followed by frying his brain on his school work, and it was very warm and comfortable curled around his blue haired companion, so sleep should have been easy, but Ichigo found his mind refused to follow his body's lead and just go to damn sleep already.

A million thoughts continued to race through his mind; such as what they were going to do after the egg was laid. Hell, what were they going to do after the child was, um, hatched? So much depended on the child it self. Would it need to consume other hollows like Grimmjow to survive, or would it need to eat human food like he did? What if it needed both? Could Kisuke come up with something? He prayed so.

What where they going to name it? Was it going to be a girl or a boy? Maybe after Grimmjow woke up they could discus baby names. He wondered if the arrancar would be offended if they named a girl after his mother?

Thinking of his mother, did Grimmjow recall his human life at all? And if so was their anyone the former Espada might wish to honour by naming their offspring. He had never picked up that kind of vibe from him before, but then Grimmjow was more of the 'here and now' kind of person and really didn't seem to spend a lot of time brooding or soul searching.

"_**He trusts his Instinct. Now stop with the brooding, it's getting gloomy in here,"**_ H'tsu complained.

"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo sighed back, forcing his thoughts to still.

Exhaustion finally seemed to catch up to his mind and he felt himself finally start to drift off into slumber. He let out a content sigh and nuzzled closer to the body curled against his own.

What would come would come, and he would meet the upcoming challenges head on and could take comfort in the fact he wouldn't be facing them alone. He had Zangetsu and Grimmjow to count on. Hell, as annoying as he was and for what it was worth, he even had H'tsu's help.

(POV)

The Shinigami may have searched much of Las Noches, but the fortress was as massive as a city and held many, many secrets. Some the Shinigami had found; not a surprise given the secretive nature of the leader of the 12th Division and the espionage experiences of the 2nd Division that had done the initial sweep to check for any remaining dangers to the Gotei 13. However, despite the admittedly through sweeps of the fortress done by both Division, several secrets still remained safely hidden away through out the fortress of shifting walls and moving corridors. This was one such location.

He had been monitoring the situation for some time, ever since he had fully recovered from his rather indemnifying defeat. He had spent most of that time plotting his revenge on the foolish Taichou who had made the ultimate mistake of 'killing him.' Truly the clown faced freak was very much a buffoon, not fit to be called a scientist. What parasitic creature was so foolish as lay only a single egg?

There had been a frantic search when Kurotsuchi Nemu's bloody and nearly destroyed body had been found in the sands, but the search hadn't lasted too long and the female shinigami had no recollection of what had occurred.

No matter how often the pathetic excuse for a scientist took her body apart, no cause had ever been found and eventually the incident was chalked up to her own failures as a creature.

That left him free to do as he pleased and continue with his own research and scheming, when he wasn't busy plotting of course. Plotting was just as important as scheming. He had full access to all of the corridors and surveillance system from this room, and monitored the entire fortress with ease. He had stocked this much smaller lab with enough resources to live for years here and conduct most experiments.

As amusing as the foolish Shinigmai and their poor excuse of a Taichou was, it was what was occurring on the other set of monitors that held his attention. He knew Grimmjow was still living here. The Espada's quarters were a good distance from the temporary base the Shinigami had set up, almost a small town's distance. Besides, Kurotsuchi's cronies were more interested in plundering the discovered labs and the treasures they held rather than the old living quarters of dead hollows.

What was happening on the monitors of the living quarters was definitely something far more interesting than watching the wretched Shinigami steal all of his hard earned research.

It had been a surprise to see Grimmjow return to his set of rooms with the human boy he had so blatantly wanted to kill in tow after having been gone for a week. Within two days his sharp mind had quickly and easily solved the mystery.

Grimmjow was eating almost a dozen meal packets a day when most would only require three or four (even Starrk had never eaten more than six). He was sleeping far more than usual and seemed especially fussy about the shape of his nest. Then there was the surprisingly submissive behaviour the former Espada was exhibiting towards the person he had wanted to kill above most others. Combined with the shear amount of sex the two were clearly involved in, one day they had even gone an astonishing six rounds, the gathered facts answered the question quickly and effectively. Somehow the human teen had Dominated the former Espada, meaning Grimmjow was definitely 'with child.'

It took all of his will power not to go after them immediately before they could either A) be discovered by the rabble of pathetic Shinigami hanging about, or B) lay the egg before he had a chance to study just how 'pregnancy' affected an Arrancar as this would be the first successful mating of their particular line hollow species. He would need a 'control' before moving in to begin the various experiments that were nipping at his mind and thus he was forced to leave them be.

It had already been a week and he felt confident that he had more than enough Data for the control part of the experimental process. He didn't dare wait longer for he had no real clue as to when the Domination and impregnation had occurred. But he also had to move carefully.

Ichigo was a powerful being, powerful enough to have defeated Aizen. It was going to take real planning to capture and cage the teen hybrid. Grimmjow would be a much easier creature to cage given his current condition.

Finally, on the eighth day after the strange couple had returned, he felt he had everything ready for his mission. It would be the first time he had left this location since his revival and he made sure everything was properly set before leaving. As incompetent as the Shinigmai were, there was ALWAYS a margin for error, or in his case since he clearly never made any errors, just plain bad luck. He had already scientifically proven multiple times that luck clearly existed.

Assured that everything was as ready as it could be, and as many contingency plans were in place as was both physically and mentally possible, he left the safety of his lab. He had a mission to do, and now looked to be a good time to implement it with one of his targets exhausted from being Dominated and the other frying his brain with work after giving a rather impressive show in Domination.

Soon, his newest experiments would be within his grasp and he could once more push his scientific mind with challenges that were more fitting to his amazing intellect. Watching his old labs being raided had long since growing monotonous and in all honesty it hardly upset him anymore. He'd had enough time to get over it.

* * *

><p>Huge thank you to everyone that took the chance to review. This is the last pre written chapter so I do not know when the next update will be. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed the update, especially you Storm and I hope you feel better soon.<p>

The tale of the waterman sounds really interesting and I would say somewhat accurate as to how Szayel makes those food packets.


	14. Food for Thought

Food for Thought

Ichgio sighed in frustration and closed his text book. Sometimes he wondered if all this studying was really worth it considering how uncertain his future was looking. Until he knew for a fact that Grimmjow and their child was safe and secure he knew he would not leave their sides.

Their child, his child, the thought was still a terrifying one. He knew very little about how a hollow family actually functioned and, from what he understood, even Grimmjow and H'tsu had no idea what to expect out of the child of an Arrancar, let alone one that included Ichigo's unique make up added to the mix.

The thought gave him a headache and he winced in mental pain before sighing again and turning his attention to the blue haired male that was just starting to stir. They didn't have a chance to clean up after the last round and he knew how much Grimmjow hated being unclean and would no doubt be retreating to the bathroom to clean himself up the moment he was fully coherent.

He was right. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind then he watched the former Espada stretch very much like the cat his ressurrection resembled before emerging from the nest composed of pillows and blankets and making his way towards the bathroom.

The image of a very naked arrancar with water running lusciously down his toned body flashed before his eyes.

"_H__'__tsu!__"_ he growled in annoyance.

"_**Something wrong King?**__**"**_ H'tsu asked innocently.

Ichigo sighed and glared down at his glaring arousal as another image of his Beta's naked and water glistening body flashed across his mind.

"_**You know you can not afford to leave him unscented and unmarked. You know you want to mate him King, so why are you hesitating?**__**"**_ H'tsu taunted.

"_There is no one here to warn off,__"_Ichigo pointed out dryly.

"_**But it**__**'**__**s tradition! You wouldn**__**'**__**t want to break one of a hollow**__**'**__**s most sacred mating traditions would you?**__**"**_H'tsu gasped in mock horror. "_**If not for me than at least for him,"**_ H'tsu added.

Ichigo didn't bother to reply as he stood up and stretched to releave some of the kinks on his back form sitting hunched over his books before moving towards the bathroom. He also needed a good shower and there was no reason to waste good water. Mind made up, with input from _both_ of them agreeing, Ichigo made his way into the bathroom that was already steaming up from the hot water that was running.

He let his clothes fall to the floor and licked his lips in anticipation as he approached the shower. Already that dreamy feeling he associated with his 'mating urges' was overcoming him and he actually paused as he caught his reflection in the mirror.

His eyes were a deep golden and the look on his face was almost frightening for it was clearly the expression of a predator on the prowl. Surprisingly, he didn't feel ashamed or frightened at his appearance at all, instead a feeling of pride rose up in his chest and he 'puffed out' a bit before striding confidently forward and entering the running shower without even pausing to let the occupant know he was coming.

Startled blue eyes snapped in his direction and Ichigo let out a growl of appreciation as the image before him blew away the one H'tsu had conjured up. Soapy water was running down his Beta's body in a rather enticing matter and he licked his lips in anticipation.

"Ichigo," Grimmjow greeted him softly, dropping his gaze to the side as he did so.

Another growl of appreciation made its way out of his throat as he admired the submissive looking body before him that was his to do with as he pleased. He closed the distance between them and pulled the arrancar flush against him, nuzzling the offered neck and grinding against the flesh turned red from the heat of the water cascading about them.

Despite his desire to turn the other around and immediately begin the ritual of Domination, the part of his mind that still belonged to the concerned teen, and the small portion of his instinct that worried for his child, checked Grimmjow's reiatsu levels first.

It was low, dangerously low. Low enough that he actually believed Orihime or Karin could defeat the former espada with ease. He sighed in frustration and a little bit of the gold bled out of his eyes as the real concern from his human half forced its way forward.

"You are practically anaemic. Is this normal?" Ichigo asked worriedly.

"No, I don't believe so," Grimmjow admitted reluctantly. "Those meals are working all right, but almost as soon as I eat the cub is draining me nearly dry," he explained with a hint of frustration.

Ichigo frowned in worry. At the rate Grimmjow had been eating those meals they would run out in a week, leaving another week to go before the egg would be laid and the arrancar could hope to start rebuilding his strength.

Ichigo had searched the other rooms during his hunts for nesting materials, and just to give them a bit of space from each other, but he had so far come up dry. Until the egg was laid it was also too dangerous for Grimmjow to attempt to open a Garganta to get a sample to Kisuke to see if he could replicate them, and even if they could that would also still take time, perhaps more time than they had.

"_**Feed him, that should help,**__**"**_ H'tsu spoke up with honest concern, as he always did when the fate of the cub came up.

Ichigo sighed, but silently agreed. He would do anything to make sure his child survived, and in association the very Espada that had once tried to kill him on multiple occasions.

He agreed with H'tsu completely and he heard Zangetsu add his own murmurs of agreement. Steeling his will he pulled back a bit and stared firmly into the blue eyes looking up at him apprehensively.

"There is maybe a weeks supply of your food left while mine is doing fine and if anything my reiatsu is going to waste,"

Grimmjow's eyes widened briefly before a look of anger crossed his features and he tried to take a step back, only to run up against the wall.

"Fuck no," he snarled. "I told you I wasn't doing that shit again," he growled.

As hard as it was to emotionally do, Ichigo let his Instinct take over and permitted H'tsu to channel a bit of himself into their body.

His eyes flashed and his reiatsu flared, earning a gasp from his Beta that was quickly followed by a strong flinch. His hands slammed against the wall on either side of his target, earning another flinch and this time his Beta dropped his gaze to glare at some spot on the floor.

"You will feed from me, this is none negotiable. The survival of you and our cub is far more important to me than your pride and I will do **everything** in my power to ensure you both live and make it through this, regardless of what it requires," he snarled. "And don't deny you would not do the same," he added.

Grimmjow sighed, and gave a reluctant nod of his head in agreement. If their roles had been reversed they both knew the arrancar would have done everything in his power to assure the cub would survive. He had no doubt about that.

"Good," Ichigo breathed in relief, moving his hands from the wall to rest on Grimmjow's shoulders. "Turn around," he ordered in a husky voice, his eyes once more fully golden and a hungry, feral expression on his face.

Grimmjow looked at him confused before complying, resting his own hands against the wall to brace himself. Ichigo brought their bodies flush together, one hand snaking down to grasp his Beta and work him into arousal while the other toyed with a nipple.

"I am going to take you fast and hard so everyone will know who you belong to. After I am done we will return to the nest where you will eat and replenish your strength," he growled lowly into his Beat's ear, enjoying the shiver that ran through the arrancar's body and into his.

Practically purring in pleasure, he nuzzled Grimmjow's neck before finding a good spot to nip. A gasp of pleasure was pulled from the former Espada's throat and Ichigo moaned in his own pleasure as the sweet tang of blood touched his lips. He felt himself stiffen even harder and he ground his body against the one trapped between him and the wall.

"Kami, I love your blood so damn much," he murmured in appreciation.

The hand teasing Grimmjow's length gave one last firm stroke before finding the bar of soap and palming it before he began to rub that soap laden hand all over his Beta's body, paying special attention to the parts that he knew were rather sensitive. Grimmjow shivered under his touch and was clearly biting back a moan of pleasure. That just made Ichigo try harder to force that moan out. The teen never could back down from a challenge.

Once he successfully had Grimmjow whimpering and shivering in his arms he moved the soap around and in-between them. Without the slightest hesitation he began to rub the bar along his Beta's rear, soaping him up real good before inserting a soap soaked finger inside. Grimmjow shivered against his chest and gave off a soft growl.

One became two, and after a time three until he was positive that Grimmjow was as prepared as he could be. He removed his fingers and let the soap drop to the floor. With one hand he grasped Grimmjow's hips to hold him steady, while the other lined himself up with his target.

"Are you ready?" he demanded breathlessly into Grimmjow's ear.

"Just fuck me already, Kurosaki," Grimmjow answered in a lust filled snarl.

Grimmjow's way of saying yes. Ichigo chuckled and rewarded the former Espada with a bite to the base of his neck, eagerly lapping up the blood that welled up even as he thrust his hips forwards, the force strong enough to make Grimmjow take the small step forward it took to reach the shower wall.

Grimmjow's hands came up quickly to prevent a full meeting of his body with the wall and let out a cry of pleasure as he was penetrated and Ichigo's length made short work of his prostate. He knew exactly where it was and just what angle to use to hit it in almost any position.

He closed his eyes and moaned in bliss as the tight feeling of being buried inside of his Beta was amplified by the taste of the blood flowing gently into his mouth. He didn't remain still for long and, true to his promise, he started a quick and rather aggressive pace that brought them both over the edge rather quickly.

Grimmjow went limp in his arms, panting softly in exhaustion and Ichigo frowned in concern. The marking had to be refreshed for safety sake but he feared that the exercise might have been too much for Grimmjow's depleted strength.

"Grimmjow?" he called worriedly.

"I am fine Kurosaki," Grimmjow growled weakly.

"You are not fine," Ichigo countered in concern.

The teen pulled out and turned Grimmjow around so they were facing each other. He swore softly as he noticed the Espada's ribs were starting to show slightly and he was panting heavily for breath. He could hardly feel any reitasu from the man in front of him other than what was coming from their cub.

"Shit," he cursed. _"__H__'__tsu, Zangetsu?__"_he cried frantically in his mind.

"_**He needs to eat King, quickly,**__**"**_H'tsu answered quickly.

"_Feed him one of those packets of food,__"_Zangetsu spoke up calmly.

Ignoring Grimmjow's weak struggles and soft whimpers of protest that he was fine, Ichigo quickly picked the drained arrancar up bridal style and rushed him back to their nest, covering his wet form in blankets to dry him off quickly and keep him warm.

He left his side only to return with a few packets of the food, tearing one open and trying to coax Grimmjow into eating. His concern skyrocketed as Grimmjow either refused to eat or had gone delirious enough not to realize there was food right in front of him.

"_He__'__s not eating!__"_ Ichigo cried out in distress.

"_Try offering smaller bites. The food should dissolve in his mouth, force it in if need be,__"_Zangetsu offered sternly and firmly, not a hint of panic or distress in his voice.

Ichigo tried that and a few smaller pieces did dissolve, but it seemed to make no difference and Grimmjow was starting to try and move on his own, forcing his hands away.

"Grimmjow?" he called, hoping this was a sign that the arrancar was coming back to his senses.

"Kurosaki?" he groaned.

"I am here. You need to eat," he ordered, offering the former espada another small piece of food.

"That shit won't work," Grimmjow growled weakly. "It doesn't have enough substance like we had hoped. The cub is draining it too quickly."

Ichigo felt his entire body go cold. If the food was not working, than all that was left was to either hunt or to force the blue haired arrancar to feed from his own reitasu like he had threatened in the shower.

He didn't have time to go hunting right now, nor was he sure he could bring himself to do so, and he was fairly sure that Grimmjow didn't have the strength to 'feed' from him at the moment. He wasn't even sure he could 'get it up' anyway with how concerned he was right now.

"Wait, that other thing that Urahara mentioned, feeding from my soul, do you got the strength to do that?" Ichigo demanded.

He felt Grimmjow go still in his arms and a large wave of disbelief slammed into him from H'tsu.

"_**Are you insane king?" **_H'tsu screamed hysterically before being silenced by Zangetsu.

"Are you sure that is what you want?" Grimmjow asked him, a look of disbelief in his eyes. "I told you before taking a chunk of your soul will hurt like a bitch and take a long time to recover from. It's not like being drained of reiatsu or taking a slash on the arm. Once I eat that part of your soul it's gone, and souls take a damn long time to heal,"

"Yeah, I know, but if it will get you on your feet long enough for us to think about some other options, than let's do it," Ichigo declared firmly. "Besides, even at half strength I can take care of most of the things here," he pointed out.

Grimmjow was still studying him as if he was some sort of strange creature before giving his head a soft shake.

"You are one messed up bastard, you know that?" Grimmjow questioned.

"Yeah, that's what makes me interesting, isn't it?" Ichigo chuckled nervously.

"More like stupidly naive, but whatever, I am starving and the thought of taking a chunk out of your soul for doing this to me is sounding too appealing right now to pass up,"

Grimmjow adjusted them so he was resting his head on Ichigo's chest, the mask fragments dug uncomfortably into his skin, but he didn't complain. For several minutes Grimmjow just rested there, breathing heavily.

"Grimmjow?" Ichiog called softly.

"Shut up Kurosaki, I need to concentrate so I don't kill ya and right now I am so damn hungry that your soul is looking very damn tasty."

"Oh, sorry,"

Grimmjow just roasted against his chest for a moment longer, and than suddenly sank his fangs into the skin over his heart. Ichigo yelped in shock more than pain.

"That didn't hurt too…." his sentence was quickly interrupted by a scream of agony as he felt a portion of his soul get ripped from his body.

Sweat broke out of his body, he couldn't breath, and his entire world was shifting rapidly into tunnel vision. Despite the agony, the inability to breath, and his alarmingly growling lack of sight, only one thought oddly crossed his mind. Why did something smell like Vanilla?

(POV)

He felt the power surge through his veins as the overwhelming taste of his Alpha's soul filled his mouth and being. As quickly as it began, it stopped as he felt Ichigo suddenly, and rather alarmingly, go limp beneath him.

He felt fear tear through him as he desperately tried to revive the unconscious teen, but Ichigo made no motion of stirring.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," he cursed over and over, an edge of panic in his voice.

Had he drained too much? He was sure he had taken the right amount. Ichigo's soul tasted like nothing he had ever has the pleasure of eating before and he almost wished he had the guts to finish eating him, but already the burst of power he had drawn was fading. Already he could feel his power wane as the cub eagerly devoured it and took it for itself.

"How the hell does anyone make it through this shit," he cursed.

Ichigo's breathing slowly became regular and it appeared the teen was just sleeping now. The expression of pain washed away and Grimmjow felt his panic ebb, and with it all of his newly gained energy.

He curled up against the teen and let sleep drag him down. Oddly enough, his last thought unknowing mirrored Ichigo's; why _did_ something smell like Vanilla?

* * *

><p>Sorry for the long wait. I have no idea when the next chapter will be done and the back of this one feels kind of rushed, but whatever. I won't make you all wait any longer. I am still so very busy and likely to get busier at least until after Christmas.<p>

Anyhow, stay tuned for the next chapter, which I believe will feature evil Szayel. Oooooo evil scientist


	15. Caged

Caged

The first thing he noticed as he slowly came too was that he was NOT in his nest of pillows and blankets, followed immediately by the fact he could no longer smell the strong, relaxing scent of his Alpha.

Panic quickly gripped his heart and Grimmjow jerked awake, bright, white light instantly assaulting his eyes and forcing a whimper of pain out of his throat and causing his eyes to slam shut. After a minute of squinting his eyes finally adjusted to the harsh light and he was able to see clearly.

He was alone, naked, and laying on a platform that was covered in some sort of soft material. The room was empty, stark white and everything seemed to be padded, from the walls to the floor, effectively making it almost impossible to harm himself. There was no sigh of Ichigo at all.

Fear was the first emotion that slammed into him. He was alone, powerless, and currently starving. There seemed to be no way out of the room and judging by the lack of any scent, Ichigo had not ever been here. He curled up against the corner defensively, sniffing the air desperately for any clue as to how he got here and who had been the one to move him.

The room was completely scentless. It was so unnerving that for a moment he thought this might be some sort of horrible nightmare, but a quick scratch of his sharpened claws along his palms welled out the scent and sight of his own blood followed by the stinging pain. This was no dream.

"What the fuck do you want with me? Show yourself you gutless fucking coward," he roared at the empty room.

He had no doubt that, even though he couldn't see his captor, his captor could most likely clearly hear and see him.

The room was silent for some time, and then a small portion of the wall opened and he stared in surprise as some of the taffy food was dropped to the pristine floor. The opening sealed and was instantly invisible once more as soon as the food had been deposited.

"I asked who the fuck you are, not that I am hungry," he snarled at the walls, even as his eyes lingered on the meal and his body reminded him just how hungry he actually was.

Still, he had no desire to eat what was being offered. It could be drugged, or have some other unpleasant things in it that he had no desire to discover. With no form of stimulation in the pure white room devoid of anything but his bed, the food and himself, time seemed to creep by slowly and each second that ticked by rose his anxiety and stress level up another notch.

Who had him? How had he been captured? Where was Ichigo? Was the teen behind this or was he now trapped in a similar room? Were the Shinigami behind their capture? If so than did that mean that, even now, his Alpha was arguing with them to get him out of here? Was Ichigo the reason he was in here?

The last thought brought a spike of pain and strong feelings of betrayal to tear into him. Was it possible that while hunting for nesting material Ichigo had also been speaking to the Shinigami that were still hanging about? Had they convinced him it would be best to see 'the beast' locked up for observation and imprisonment? Or had Ichigo accidentally betrayed their location?

The thoughts whirled about frantically in his mind as the caged feeling continued to rise until his mind was just about ready to snap from the stress. Between the hunger, weakness, feelings of vulnerability, feeling of betrayal, and the fear he would deny he felt with his dying breath, his mind was about to have a full melt down.

Whimpers made their way out of his throat as he desperately sought for the comfort and safety of his Alpha, but no matter how hard he tried to pick up any trace of scent or whiff of Reiatsu, he detected nothing. Feelings of betrayal and abandonment rushed into him without mercy, regardless of how hard he tried to fight them off.

"_He would not leave. He is too Noble for that. We must have been captured and he is being held away from me, that is why he__'__s not here. Or maybe he escaped and is now on his way here. Regardless of his feelings for me, he would never abandon his own cub,__"_ he forced himself to think optimistically.

It was true, Ichigo's very nature would prevent him from ever letting harm come to a child, or any person he remotely cared for. Despite appearances, Ichigo was not naive either and had clearly shown no interest in coming across the Shinigami that were stationed here, let alone thinking of betraying them to said Shinigami.

"_So if it__'__s not the Shinigami, than who?__"_ he wondered confused.

"Your brainwaves are giving off an impressive amount of activity, I honestly find it difficult to believe that you were capable of thought for any length of time, Grimmjow."

His eyes snapped open in shock at the voice and he bolted to his feet, glaring about the room in an attempt to find either the speaker or the location that the sound was coming from.

"Szayel," he snarled in a low feral voice. "Let me the fuck out of here before I bust your pink haired ass," he ordered sharply.

"Now, now, calm down. Think of the child you are carrying. Your reiatsu is very low, so low that I think a gillian could take you down without breaking a sweat. Eat," Szayel's voice ordered.

"Fuck you," he spat.

"Now, now, I can't have any harm coming to the specimen inside of you. You must eat Grimmjow, or I will be forced to use other means to insure you survive long enough to lay. I was hoping to do this without too much force or drugs, but if you give me no other options…." he trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid but heavily implied.

Grimmjow snarled in anger. As much as he had no desire to concede to the other's whims, he also had no desire to be kept sedated and restrained. Given a choice, he would sooner keep all his assets in working order. Locked in this room and nearly powerless, he knew he could not fight the other off, not like this.

Grudgingly, he picked up the lump of taffy like substance and sniffed it apprehensively, trying to detect any trace of tampering. He detected nothing with his nose, but that didn't mean much when it came to the scientist.

"Where is Ichigo?" he questioned, wanting to delay eating just yet and hoping that Szayel would give something away.

If it was one thing Grimmjow did know about him, it was that Szayel was prone to talking, especially if the conversation involved his own superiority over others, and he seemed to be in a rather talkative mood at the moment.

"Eat, and I will tell you where your Alpha is, I might even let you see him if you keep yourself in good order without needing to use force," Szayel promised.

Grimmjow growled again, but the only good thing he could think about Szayel was that he actually was a man, or Hollow in this case, of his word. If he said that he would let Grimmjow see Ichigo if he ate, than he would.

Weighing the options in his head, and against his instinct that was telling him he NEEDED to eat soon or risk harm to his young, he reluctantly began to eat. He tasted nothing malicious and even though he ate slowly to give whatever might be in the food a chance to effect him, and thus warn him of eating anything further, no such funny affects arose. For all intents and purposed, the food was clean, but he severely doubted it and he just knew that where ever Szayel actually was, the scientist was no doubt smirking in satisfaction.

"Alright, now tell me where he is," he ordered with a snap. "And I don't care what substance eating that shit just put into my body, so you can just shut your mouth over that before you even open it," he added.

Even though he couldn't see the scientist, he swore he could still feel the other pouting and frowning that he wasn't going to be able to gloat.

"Your Alpha is down four levels in another lab. He is a very intriguing specimen and I look forward to learning everything there is to know about him, inside and out. A human with the powers of a Shinigami and Hollow, able to achieve both Bankai and seemingly have a ressureccion of his own," Szayel's voice held a large amount of excitement and pleasure.

"_He__'__s the only bastard that can get off on something other than sex,__"_ he couldn't help but to think in contempt.

Still, the fact that it was now confirmed that Ichigo had also been captured and was being contained caused the fear and despair he had been feeling earlier to crawl up his spine and assault his stomach.

The only people that knew where they were wouldn't come looking for them if Ichigo failed to report in for almost two months. They were on their own.

"I want to see him," he ordered.

"Ah ah, not so fast now. I said I _might_ let you see him if you keep yourself in good order without me needing to use force or drugs. One meal is hardly enough good behaviour to garner a reward," Szayel taunted.

"Fucker," Grimmjow snarled.

No response was given to his curse so be presumed the interview was over. With nothing to do he paced the small space of his cell in agitation, pausing only to punch the wall and discover just how soft the material covering it was.

The lights slowly dimmed at one point until it became almost too dark to see. Mind and body both exhausted from his turmoil, he reluctantly curled back up on the padded slab and sought some slumber. He would need to get his strength up if he planned on strangling the pink haired freak for caging him like this.

(POV)

Ichigo woke up feeling rather refreshed, if not a little strange. For some strange reason he seemed to be cold, which was odd because it was rare for Grimmjow to crawl out of the nest before he did, not to mention that the shear number of blankets that made up said nest should have assured that it would be damn impossible for one person to have stolen them all through out the night.

"_**Wake up king!**__**"**_ H'tsu's voice sounded oddly distant and yet strangely frantic and furious.

Opening his eyes he was stunned to realize that not only was the voice of his Hollow and his Zanpakuto sounding rather distant, but he was also definitely not in Grimmjow's rooms anymore. In fact, he seemed to be restrained in some sort of tube and covered in geodes. It was oddly silent as well, and very damn cold. The fact he was completely nude might have had something to do with it.

"_What the hell?__"_ he thought confused. _"__Jii-san, H__'__tsu?__"_ he called, hoping they could hear him and would know what the hell had happened.

The last thing he remembered was a sharp pain as he let Grimmjow feed from his soul before being claimed by blackness. He felt a bit embarrassed that he had probably passed out from the pain.

He could hear both voices calling to him, but they were still very distant and he couldn't make out the words very well, only that they were trying to speak to him. He called back, and ever so slowly the voices started to get louder and clearer.

"_Ichigo_!"

"_Yeah, I can hear you Jii-san,__"_ he responded, relief in his voice. _"__What happened?__"_ he questioned.

"_You were drugged,__"_ Zangetsu answered.

"_**Get the fuck up King, we need to find the pet and the cub,**__**"**_H'tsu snarled with a tint of worry.

"_Don__'__t call him that,__"_ Ichigo absently ordered.

He didn't wait for any further comment from H'tsu and set about testing the restraints holding him in place. They were firm and had no give at all. Even his reiatsu seemed absent.

"Ah, you are awake I see, excellent," a voice purred from what he presumed was a speaker system.

"Where is Grimmjow?" he demanded.

"Intriguing, the first words you speak to me is in concern of your Beta. Very interesting. You are indeed an intriguing specimen Kurosaki Ichigo. I look forward to learning all of your secrets."

"Just tell me where he is, and if he's alright," he ordered coldly.

"_**Fuck this King, let me out. I**__**'**__**ll rip the information out of his corpse,**__**"**_ H'tsu snarled.

"_Easy, we do no know where Grimmjow is. It is best to bide our time and learn what we can. We are in no condition to engage in battle just yet,__"_ Zangetsu advised.

"He is safe, and will be well taken care of provided you both behave. I have no desire to lose the first offspring born of an Arrancar just yet."

"Forgive me for not trusting your word," he snorted.

"I will let you see him in a few days if you both behave. He has already woken up and eaten. He is resting now,"

"_Ichigo, who is speaking? It does not sound like Kurostuchi,__"_Zangetsu pointed out.

"_**Bet it**__**'**__**s that other pussy Grimmjow mentioned,**__**"**_H'tsu growled. _**"**__**The one that had the quinces pants in a knot.**__**"**_

"Szayel?" Ichigo spoke aloud.

"So you have heard of me, I am honoured."

Well, no he had actually been speaking to H'tsu and Zangetsu, but it was nice to confirm who was holding him hostage. It was also a relief to know that the Arrancar holding them was relatively weak, once you get pass his technology of course. Regrettably, knowledge of technology was not one of Ichigo's strong points.

"What do you want with me?" Ichigo questioned.

Szayel had already told him what he wanted Grimmjow for, but the scientist hadn't explained why he was here in this tube yet, although he had a sneaking suspicion that what ever Szayel was about to say would just be different words for the same experiments Kurotsuchi has always been whining at him to participate in.

"I thought you would never ask," his captor all but squealed in delight.

"_**You had to ask,**__**"**_ H'tsu mentally groaned at him while Szayel started to give them a rundown of all the experiments he planed on doing to him.

"_Be quite and listen. We may learn something we can use,__"_ Zangetsu ordered.

"_**Tsu, wake me up when that freak is done listening to himself talk,**__**"**_ H'tsu snorted and Ichigo felt the hollow retreat from the front of his mind.

After about three minutes Ichigo almost regretting asking and wished he could retreat like H'tsu had. Oh he understood some of the terms, one learned a fair amount being raised in a Clinic, but most of it was jargon to him. From what he understood of it, the hollow scientist was interested in the genetic and reiatsu make up of his unique hybrid body.

Szayel must have eventually noticed he had lost the attention of his victim, for the long winded explanation suddenly ended with a rather annoyed sounded 'humph'

"Well, I do not expect you to understand such scientific complexities. There are a few things I do greatly wish to know and your reluctant Beta is not so willing to speak to me. Perhaps you would be willing to answer a few questions."

"What, your scientific mind can't get the answers?" Ichigo couldn't help but to taunt.

"Oh I could easily get the answers easily, but the methods needed would require that I get rather _intrusive_ with your Beta's body, and since this is the first Arrancar offspring I do so wish to avoid any chances of accidentally causing a miscarry. Somehow I doubt I can convince the two of you to mate for me again so easily."

Ichigo felt his body stiffen at the implied threat and he felt H'tsu return to the forefront of his mind in a flash of fury.

"What kind of questions, and what's in it for us if I answer them?" Ichigo demanded at Zangetsu's prompting.

"Well, if you behave I might let you two have some time together. I understand that the Alpha's presence is desired, although no necessary, in regards to the development of the young and in maintaining the Beta's mental and physical stability.

"For all that he is, Grimmjow is not a weakling and I doubt your absence will cause his life to terminate, but I do prefer to avoid complications when it is easy enough to let the two of you meet for short periods of time, if you can both show you can behave of course."

"_**I am going to fuck him up when we get out of this thing,**__**"**_ H'tsu seethed.

"_Jii-san?__"_ Ichigo questioned.

"_I believe he is telling the truth. Scientist do have a habit of doing that, if only to prove how much better they are than others. I do not see any harm in answering some questions, depending on what they are.__"_

"_**I can see a problem with it; giving that bastard the satisfaction of getting his way,**__**"**_H'tsu snapped furiously.

"_Nonetheless, he does seem genuinely concerned with getting the cub to be born safely, and Grimmjow has been suffering lately. Perhaps he might find a way to stabilize both parent and child,__"_Zangetsu pointed out.

"What do you want to know?" Ichigo asked apprehensively.

"Excellent, it is wonderful to see that you plan to co-operate. My first question is easy, and yet vitally important; what was the conception date?"

Ichigo did some mental math before answering. The next questions all resolved around Grimmjow and the cub. Side effects, feeding habits, how much reiatsu was the young drawing. Ichigo answered the best he could, gaining some small semblance of relief at the real concern he was picking up from Szayel's voice as the questions about Grimmjow's health continued.

He doubted that the concern was out of any emotional feelings for the unfortunate fate of Grimmjow's health, but rather the concern of a child worried their favourite toy might break before they could finish playing with it. Either way, Ichigo was damn sure that Szayel was going to do everything in his capabilities to make sure that Grimmjow carried to term, and right now that was one of Ichigo's biggest concerns.

"I answered your questions, now let me see him," Ichigo demanded at the end of the interview.

"Tsk, tsk, do not get so greedy. I said I _might_ give you time together. Just because you behaved does not mean he has. Besides, I haven't had time to start _our_ experiments yet, and I do need to get started on that."

The tube Ichigo was strapped in suddenly whirled to life and despite himself he felt panic begin to well up within his chest. The panic only increased as he felt darkness begin to creep in at the edge of his vision and he slipped into sleep to the furious roars and threats of H'tsu echoing through his mind.

(POV)

Szayel felt a shiver run up his spine as Ichigo's eyes flashed a very dangerous gold that threaten a world of agony before droping into a drug induced slumber. The creature behind those eyes was most certainly not the teen he had just been speaking too.

The machines around him whirled silently to life and began to run their courses, leaving him the chance to sit back and reflect while the equipment did the first round of experiments.

He hadn't been sure what to expect from the hybrid, but the reactions he had gotten from the teen were close to what his reports from the late Aizen said they would be like. No, the one who had taken him by complete surprise was his other test subject. Szayel turned his attention to the other set of monitors watching over the slumbering former Espada.

It had actually been two days since he had acquired the two of them and in those two days all Grimmjow had done was sleep and eat what was presented to him without too much of a fuss. In fact, the only words they exchanged all resolved around Ichigo and when the two could meet.

"I never thought you of all creatures would behave," Szayel mused to himself as he hit the 'feed' button attached to Grimmjow's cell.

Various hollow parts, specimens he no longer had a use for, entered through the feed shoot to land on the floor. The sound caused the slumbering Arrancar to stir and after a moment Grimmjow began to eat.

Szayel paid close attention to his subjects vitals and watched curiously as Grimmjow's reiatsu briefly rose as he ate before it once more plummeted back down next to nothing once he was done eating as the cub drained him.

He had hopped that the reason Grimmjow had been so burnt was because the packets of food had no real 'substance' to them and the cub was trying to gain the materials to form itself. Thus he had offered the Espada 'real' food in a hopes that he would regain at least a little strength. So far the switch in diet seemed to have no effect on the draining.

"Curious, oh so curious," Szayel mused.

He'd had the rare chance to actually study _two_ separate mated adjucus pairs, and in neither case had the adjucus displayed such draining from their offspring. Curious, he offered the clearly exhausted arrancar more food and watched in rapt attention as no matter how much food was offered, the moment it was consumed, the cub stole it.

Either because he could eat no more or because he was simply too exhausted to care anymore, the subject returned to his bed and curled up to sleep some more. There was no tantrums, no threats to Szayel's life, no behaviour at all that reflected the former 6th Espada.

Szayel frowned and once more called up Grimmjow's vitals on his monitor. Other than a sever drain of reiatsu, they looked normal enough, granted on the low end of everything. Even brain activity seemed to be lacking. Almost as if the subject was slowly wasting away. Szayel felt his frown deepen even as his curiosity rose.

"Curious, perhaps you shall be laying sooner than expected, and that explains your lack of motivation. I do believe you are trying to nest," he mused. "Even more curious that the hormones have managed to curb the violent beast that you normally are."

Szayel sat back and then sighed. He had promised to give the two of them some time together if they behaved, and so far they had been behaving, regardless of the fact one was basically in a drug induced coma. He had honestly never expected such docile behaviour from Grimmjow and had only offered the deal as a way to taunt the former Espada. He had never banked on actually needing to fulfill it.

"And yet, I am curious to see what their meeting will bring about. I have already witness some rather remarkable changed in your behaviour pattern Grimmjow, what will reuniting you with your Alpha bring upon you next," Szayel mused as he pulled up a different set of controls.

He would have to make sure the room for their meeting was secure and that there were safety measures installed to make sure the two subjects could neither harm themselves or each other. It would not do well if they tried to escape through some ridicules death or if one of them suddenly decided they would sooner see their partner dead than as one of his experiments.

"People have no appreciation of science," he muttered.

* * *

><p>There might be a slew of errors as I haven't had much time, nor stamina, to edit this. I have spent most of my spare time sleeping and feeling like crap. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I will be feeling better any time soon. Why you wonder, will as some of you may of already guessed, and what I have been holding back from everyone until the right people knew, aka my parents, I got a bun in the oven. Yep, that's right, my hubby and I are expecting our first munchkin.<p>

Anyhow, no sex in this chapter, and their won't be until they escape. I do not plan on them playing with Szayel for too long, after all I promised myself this would be a SHORT story. Yes….. Short…

Ahem, no idea when I will be able to update this again, as usual I love each and every review, thank you all so much for them. Now if you will excuse me, I need another nap


	16. Reunion

Reunion

He almost wished he could say that his 'good behaviour' was due to an amazing amount of patience and hard won control, but he would be lying through both sets of his teeth. The simple matter was that he had no energy to stir up a ruckus. No matter how much Szayel feed him, be it real food or the synthetic taffy like stuff, the moment he digested said food the cub consumed it and took all the energy for itself. He barely had enough strength now to get off of the bedlike slab to get to the food.

He never slept easily either. He jerked awake every couple of minutes, cold and confused. He hated to admit it, but all he wanted right now was to curl up in Ichigo's arms and feel the warmth and safety that went with it. Every time that thought crossed his mind, and it was crossing it a lot lately, he felt the urge to throw up in disgust. When had he become so pathetic that the simple thought of curling up in that hybrids arms was enough to put him at ease?

All in all, he was downright miserable and just wanted everything to hurry up and end or, failing that, for Szayel to stop being such a bloody coward and actually take a step into his cell so he could remind the bastard just why he was once sixth while the other was once a mere eighth. Oh yes, seeing the pink haired bastard's blood dripping from his claws was a very pleasant dream indeed, but despite that wonderful image the dream he still had the most involved being curled up against his Alpha.

He must be truly loosing his mind, more so when he swore he heard his cell door hiss open.

"I must say, I never expected to gather this much data, nor did I expect that becoming a Beta could so change a persons personality. This has been a most intriguing experiment."

Grimmjow's eyes snapped open and he knew he must be dreaming, because there was no way Szayel would dare to enter his cell. It was close, Szayel was standing in the doorway and hadn't actually put a foot into the cell yet, but there was now no obstacles between him and the current object of his hate.

"Nor did I ever expect a Beta to become so weakened. No wonder the Alpha is so needed. Are you interested in knowing just how weak you have become?" Szayel questioned.

"Fuck you," he spat, but it lacked his usual venom.

He tried to lung for the bastard, but found he barely had enough strength to stumble to his feet, let alone make any sort of lunging motion.

"Now now, you have been so good the last few days, do you truly wish to break that streak now and be denied your request?" Szayel taunted in a lecturing voice.

His request? Was he seriously going to be able to see Ichigo? The thought was so foreign that he continued to just stare at Szayel stupidly for a moment.

"I see your mind has gone rather far indeed. Well, fortunately mine has not. Here, I figured you would at least like to be presentable when you see your Alpha."

Szayel held out a simple white robe with no belt. Of course no belt, he wasn't permitted anything that he could use to harm or kill himself with. Even the hollow meat he had been provided with for food had been de-boned and de-clawed.

Grimmjow stared at him in disbelief for a moment before the sentence registered and he vaguely recalled that Szayel had told him the two of them would be permitted to meet should they behave. A part of him felt elation, another part felt disgust at the elation, while the last part of him hesitate.

He couldn't help but to wonder just what sort of shape would Ichigo even be in? What had Szayel done to the teenage hybrid? Would he even recognize his Alpha anymore?

Despite those thought he still snatched the robe from Szayel's hands with a snarl, weak though it was due to his pathetic condition. It felt sort of good to have clothing covering his body once again. He had no idea how long it had actually been since they had been captured, but judging by the light cycles he figured four, maybe five days.

"Come along than, and do behave. I would hate to have to lock you both back up and deny you your behaving gift," Szayel smirked at him.

Oh how he wanted to claw that smirk off of the bastard's face, and he would have too if the move wouldn't have been delivered in the most pathetic way thanks to his depleted strength. No, he would not do anything to please the former 8th. Without a word he followed the other out of his cell and down several simple white corridors lined with identical doors until they came to a different door.

He was let into a room that was hardly any different from his cell. Szayel closed the door behind him, leaving him alone. Several moments later the door opened again and he felt his chest tighten as the sight that greeted him.

(POV)

He was unconscious most of the time, which was a relief because when he was awake he was often in blistering agony and the screams of H'tsu and Zangetsu ravaged his mind. Dimly he was aware that he was screaming too. H'tsu's screams were often punctured with some fairly disturbing threats about what the hollow was going to do to Szayel when he broke free.

Sometime when he woke up he was completely pain free and he noticed there was not a mark on his body to explain the pain he knew he had been suffering from. Those times H'tsu and Zangetsu were often exhausted and he could barely get a word out of them. Giving how talkative H'tsu tended to be, this worried him greatly.

"Oh good, you are awake,"

Ichigo blinked his eyes and looked through the glass of his tube to see his captor. Szayel wasn't even looking at him, but rather at a set of controls he was currently working with.

"You are truly a remarkable specimen Kurosaki Ichigo, containing three souls tied into one. It is amazing. I think I have almost figure out how to separate your various parts so I can study them more in-depth, but alas I am afraid I am a man of my word."

Ichigo could only stare at the former Espada in confusion. His mind was so groggy from the drugs and residual pain that he wasn't even really registering what the other was saying. He could tell the other was speaking, but the words refused to make sense to his pain addled mind.

"I do so hate to delay this experiment in any way, but a promise is a promise and your surprisingly obedient Beta is ever so eager to see you,"

Beta? Grimmjow? He was going to be permitted to see Grimmjow? He felt H'tsu and Zangetsu violently shake off their drugged and pain filled confusion they were suffering at that announcement and force themselves into coherently.

"_**What has the fucking bastard done to our pet?**__**"**_ H'tsu demanded in a rather loud snarl.

"_Don__'__t call him that,__"_Ichigo ordered absently, but he too was worried about Szayel's statement.

He knew Grimmjow and hearing that the former Espada had been well behaved made him deeply concerned. Behaving was not something the former 6th was ever good at, so if he was 'behaving' than there had to be a one hell of a reason for it and Ichigo was strongly worried about what that reason might be.

His thoughts broke off as the glass front of the tube he was being held in hissed open and his restraints were suddenly released. He gave a rather pathetic yelp as he was suddenly dropped a few inches onto legs that had no strength in them simply because he hadn't used them in several days.

Ichigo stumbled and clung onto any part of the tube he could grasp as he found his balance. His body became awash with the painful 'pins and needles' feeling as circulation returned to his neglected limbs.

Once he found his balance he shot a glare at the scientist and desperately sought his reiatsu. He didn't have Zangetsu on him, but he was sorely tempted to let H'tsu out and have a go at the bastard who had caged him, tortured him, and did damn knows what to the, uh, other parent of his offspring. In fact, H'tsu was bellowing in his mind to do just that.

Unfortunately, and no doubt due to that hidden device that Ishida had mentioned that had been used against him and Renji, Ichigo could not feel his reiatsu at all. Szayel was also, wisely, a fair distance away and would have plenty of time to counter or move if Ichigo made a lunge for him.

"Please do," Szayel purred at him, as if reading his mind. "After all I only promised you two could meet if you both behaved."

Ichigo snarled, H'tsu let out a strong string of rather violent curses and threats, and Zangetsu sternly ordered them both to calm down. Ichigo took a few deep, steadying breaths before nodding his head and started to take some slow steps towards his captor. He teetered a bit as his body got use to walking again, but it didn't take long for his motor functions to kick back into full gear. He always had been a fast healer and was quick to get back onto his feet.

Szayel held out a simple white robe with no belt and Ichigo sheepishly covered his nakedness. He had gotten so use to wandering around without clothing that he hadn't even thought of it.

He was lead out of the strange lab and down several corridors. No matter how much he desperately sought his reiatsu, he never felt a twinge of it, and judging by the foul cursing coming from H'tsu, the hollow wasn't having much luck either.

"_Zangetsu?__"_ he questioned.

"_It is firmly suppressed. Even if we did have access to it I get the impression that Szayel is rather intelligent and no doubt has contingency plans in place.__"_ His Zanpakuto's soul responded.

They eventually reached a non descript door and Szayel stepped aside before opening it and gesturing him in.

"Do use your time for the best,"

Ichigo glared at the scientist as he entered the room. Instantly his eyes went to Grimmjow and he felt his blood boil. If Grimmjow had looked poor before, now the Espada looked ready to practically die on his feet. But it wasn't just the sight of his Beta looking so depleted that sent his mind reeling backwards and had the half aware state he associated with his more hollow like instincts leaping forward.

(POV)

Grimmjow stared at Ichigo, shocked as black quickly bled into his eyes and a feral look crossed his face. It took him all of three seconds to figure out what was wrong with the hybrid.

"Shit," he cursed as he quickly pulled the robe off and tossed it aside, the robe that reeked of Szayel's scent since the scientist had been the one to hand it to him.

The robe had barely touched the ground before he found himself pinned against the wall, Ichigo's body pressed against his. He bared his throat and remained still as the other sniffed his skin. Fortunately he hadn't been wearing the robe for long so almost no trace of Szayel scent was on him, nor had the scientist physically touched him.

"Did he touch you?" Ichigo demanded, or was that H'tsu? It difficult to tell when his voice was fuelled by instinct like that.

"I would have slowly ripped his limbs off one by one had he tried," he growled.

"Good," Ichigo purred.

He wasn't released yet and despite himself he found himself relaxing in the tight embrace as his Alpha nipped at his throat and ground their bodies together.

"Are you alright?" Ichigo questioned.

This time Grimmjow noticed the voice had returned to that of the concerned teen, although the body language hadn't changed in the least, if anything Ichigo was rubbing against him even more desperately.

"I am fine, just tired and pissed," he answered honestly. "What about you?" he asked hesitantly.

If Ichigo was incapacitated, any chance they had at escape and revenge was shot out of the air before it could even leave the ground, at least until some time after the egg was laid and he could regain his own strength.

"I am alright, I can't access my reiatsu but other than that I am fine," Ichigo answered.

Despite himself Grimmjow stiffened at Ichigo's answer. The teen was apparently a rather terrible liar. They were thoroughly screwed if they couldn't find a way past Szayel's technology soon.

Silence settled between them for some time, neither one willing to break it and neither one knowing what to say. Instead they just held onto each other, or rather Ichigo kept him pinned between the wall and his body while desperately nuzzling his neck while he remained limp in the others grip.

"H'tsu thinks I should refresh the markings," Ichigo was the first to break it, a hint of embarrassment in his tone.

Grimmjow merely nodded his head. He had honestly been expecting it to happen when the hybrid had first pinned him to the wall.

"What if Szayel is watching?"

"He's probably been watching us for over a week now anyway," Grimmjow shrugged.

"That's disgusting," Ichigo scowled.

"You could always let H'tsu out to do it if you are too much of a coward to do so," he couldn't help but to taunt. "Or I can be the one to dominate you," he smirked.

Ichigo's scowl deepened and he gave his head a shake, obviously in response to something, or several somethings, H'tsu had said. He felt Kurosaki's grip loosen slightly before the teen took a step back to give him a bit of breathing space.

"Sometimes I wonder which of you two is more messed up," Ichigo lamented softly.

"Seeing as how it's two on one, wouldn't it be more prudent to say that _your_ the one who's messed up," Grimmjow couldn't help but to point out with a smirk.

Ichigo gave his head a shake of denial before letting out a sigh and letting his body go limp. After a moment his eyes opened and once more sported the black of his hollow instinct. His entire posture and body language shifted as the teen let the hollow half of his soul gain some control over his body.

Grimmjow half expected to be flipped and fucked right there against the wall, but even under his instincts Ichigo was apparently still aware of his Beta's weakened state and instead moved them over to the slab that constituted as a bed.

The teen moved slowly, rubbing their bodies together and nibbling his neck. Normally Grimmjow preferred their more violent matings that were as much battle as love making, but in all honesty in his weakened state this was preferable. It was rather comfortable laying beneath his Alpha, it gave him a sense of safety and protection, which was odd because usually being in such a position brought about an entirely different natural response; the urge to rip the bastards throat out being near the top of that list.

It may have been several days, but Ichigo hadn't forgotten a single one of his sensitive spots and the teen made sure to give each one its undue attention, leaving him panting and withering in pleasure rather quickly. The more moans that were ripped from his throat, the more firm in his touches and slightly more feral Ichigo became until the teen was all wild instinct, just the way Grimmjow liked him.

The initial penetration was slow as they had no real form of lubricant to prepare him with, but once his Alpha was fully seated he set a quick and rather strong pace and proved that he recalled the location of the sensitive spots _inside_ of his Beta as well as the outside. Every thought fled form his mind as he floated in pure bliss. For once the weakness of his 'pregnancy' didn't even reach his conscious mind as his Alpha did everything in his power to pull whimpers and moans of pleasure out of his throat; a throat that was being granted a fair amount of attention from his Alpha's mouth and teeth.

When the mountain of pleasure peaked before rolling him down the other side he found himself just laying there beneath Ichigo in a daze, his mind and body locked in the grip of pleasant after feeling until the scent of vanilla reached his nose.

"_Weak ass pansy fucker," _Grimmjow growled to himself as his consciousness drifted away as the drug worked it's way into his system.

Granted he couldn't blame Szayel for drugging them before attempting to move them. Grimmjow wouldn't want to deal with a pissed off Alpha defending his Beta after reasserting his dominance and high on Instinct either. It was much easier to move them back to their cells when they were unconscious rather than trying to pry them apart once again.

When he woke up he was once more back in his cell and a small pile of meat greeted him. He felt slightly better than he had been feeling, perhaps because he now knew for certain Ichigo was alive and all right and if anyone would get them out of this it was the hybrid. The kid had uncanny luck with such things.

(POV)

Unlike Grimmjow, Ichigo did not wake up as the drugs being pumped through his system kept him under. The sound of machinery hummed and whirled around him as Szayel worked the controls, a grin of delight plastered to his face.

"I see, very intriguing. Yes, I think I might actually be able to do it. I wonder, Kurosaki Ichigo, what will your soul, indeed your very body, look like when I separate and contain your powers separately?" Szayel mused aloud. "Well, I guess there is only one way to find out, isn't there?"

Ichigo obviously didn't make a response to the rhetorical question.

"I am so glad you agree," Szayel hummed happily at the coma drugged teen before typing madly away at the controls. "You two had given me so much interesting Data. I wonder if I can't convince the two of you to keep breeding after the first cub is hatched," he mused. "I have heard that each pregnancy is different for human woman, I wonder if the same is true for hollows. I also wonder how a hybrid such as yourself would handle being the Beta. Sigh, so many experiments, so little time to conduct them in," Szayel lamented.

His test subject didn't respond.

"Well, that should about do it. You know, you should thank me for being so considerate of a scientist. A lesser one would have not have bothered to waste the drugs to keep you under while we work, that clown faced poor excuse for a lab assistant is a prime example," he scowled in displeasure at the mere thought of the despicable creature that dared to call himself a scientist.

"Honestly, listening to a subject scream for hours on end gets tedious and far too many of them end up hurting themselves in the thrashing and giving off false biological readings due to their hysteria, or expiring prematurely from the stress. I prefer my samples to be a bit more accurate."

Silence.

"I must check up on your Beta. He should be waking up soon and I want to make sure he wont go back into a depression at your separation. He responded much better than I had hypothesised, in fact you both did, and I am actually pleased you two behaved enough to reward you. Once we are done our little side experiment I might just let the two of you stay together as it certainly seemed to do your Beta good."

Not a blip on the monitors watching the teen vitals changed in their patterns.

With a pleased nod of his head, Szayel began to run the program before retreating to the monitor room that watched the cells. The equipment would be fine without him watching it and he was so curious to see what kind of differences being temporarily reunited with his Alpha would bring about in the Beta. Would he be more depressed, more active or show no change? Science was a wonderful thing. One just never knew until one conducted the experiment.

* * *

><p>Huge loves and hugs for all the reviews and congrats. I am somewhat disappointed with this chapter, but it gets the story moving along to the better stuff upcoming, like Szayel getting his due (insert evil snicker). Not too much plot left to go, hopefully there will only be 5 more chapters but you never know. I still got to write the reward one shot for black storms contest winners.<p>

Anyhow, tata for now until the next chapter is done, or until the next chapter of POV is posted if you read that as well


	17. Laid

Laid

Even though he was both mentally and physically exhausted, Grimmjow found he just couldn't sit still. Ever since meeting with Ichigo yesterday, at least he was sure it was yesterday as it was hard to tell time in a windowless cell, he had become extremely restless; pacing about his cell aimlessly and never being able to sit still for long no matter how hard he tried.

Snarling at himself for acting so stupid he forced himself to lay down on the slab like bed. He shifted about, trying to find some position that was comfortable, before giving up and lurching to his feet again to start his pacing around the room before a minute was even up.

His dinner and breakfast remained untouched in the corner. He just wasn't hungry and, oddly enough, not tired at all. Exhausted yes, but sleepy no. Perhaps it was something Ichigo had done to him while they mated. Perhaps it was because seeing the teen alive and in relatively good shape had bolstered his resolve. Whatever the reason for his sudden restlessness he really wished he could at least stop this pointless pacing. In fact he was half surprised Szayel, the arrogant ass that he was, hadn't made some comment to him about his pacing, or reprimanded him for not eating.

Snapping his fangs in irritation at the air he forced himself to sit on the slab. It was just too uncomfortable. Not soft enough. Glaring at the padded board that served as his bed, he growled in frustration before eyeing the padding on the wall.

Maybe if it was softer, warmer, he might get some rest. Without a second thought he clawed at the wall, tearing the padding with his claws and pulled the stuffing out in clumps. He arranged it on his 'bed' and tried to get comfortable again.

It was still not soft enough and too open and drafty. It felt wrong. He eyed the floor instead. It was padded as well, arguably more so than the slab. Decision made, he pulled the clumps off of the slab and shoved them underneath it before curling up there.

Better, but it was still too cold and not soft enough. Without a second though he tore the walls up some more, grabbing more and more stuffing until the nest he had built was to his liking.

"_Much better,__"_he thought, pleased with himself.

He curled up in the nest, sighing contently, but it didn't last long. His body may have finally sound piece, but the rest of him was still restless. His eyes kept darting about the room and he kept trying to reach out with his senses to find something. What he was searching for he wasn't quite sure, but the longer he went without finding or seeing it, the more agitated he became.

He shifted in his nest restlessly, but didn't want to leave it. He knew he needed something, he just didn't know what it was and that made him even more restless, but not enough to leave the nest.

He started to whimper a little, unaware he was even doing so until a louder one echoed back at him. He froze as the sound hit his ears and his eyes widened in horror.

"Fuck!" he cursed aloud.

(POV)

Ichigo was in pain, he knew that. Dimly he was aware that he was screaming as well, as was H'tsu and Zangetsu. He could feel his body, his very soul, being torn asunder and it hurt more than anything he had ever felt before. Being a rather active warrior he was all too familiar with pain in many of its forms, but not a soul shattering pain like this; and he swore his soul was actually shattering.

Worse was that, some how, some way, he just knew he had to be somewhere, that something was calling him, pulling him. The feeling had been there before the pain had started and even through the pain the feeling had not stopped, but rather intensified as time went on.

H'tsu seemed to know what it was, but before the hollow half of his soul could begin to explain the pain had started, ending the conversation before it could even really start.

Another cry of agony was torn from him as he felt his soul tear painfully. It felt like he was being ripped apart, torn into three pieces against his will.

(POV)

It was working, he could see the reitasu of his test subject separating into their individual components; Human, Shinigami and Hollow. He had tried administering pain killers and, after that was clearly having no effect, every form of anaesthetic he had at his disposal to get the annoying screaming to stop, but nothing seemed to work to put the subject out of his misery.

Instead he was being forced to listen to the loudest, gut wrenching screaming he had ever been forced to listen too. It was giving him one hell of a migraine but the results being displayed were just too damn intriguing to call off the experiment. With Ichigo's various components of reiatsu fluctuating so violently Szayel was forced to manually correct and compensate the programming running the equipment as the experiment continued. He dare not leave the equipment to handle it, nor miss a moment of this glorious achievement in science. He was so close to success that he didn't dare turn his attention aside for even a moment least he miss the slightest detail, even though they had been at this for some time already.

There was monitoring equipment recording everything going on in Grimmjow's cell anyway and he could view the data at a latter date. There were alarms and other warning systems set in place to alert him should the Arrancar's vitals took a drastic dip or climb that would require his attention. Until then the automated system would take car of his captive.

His thoughts were yanked back to the experiment in front of him and he felt saliva start to gather in his mouth as he watched in glee as the reiatsu he was pulling from the teen suddenly snapped and separated completely into the two adjacent containers.

The screaming finally died and he had only a second to feel triumph, and relief that the screaming was finally done with, before dawning and dread plunged through him. The door to the left chamber went flying as it was kicked off of his hinges and hadn't even had time to hit the wall before he found himself staring into murderous golden eyes. He felt terror wash over him before the pain of suddenly being slammed against a wall himself even registered to his body.

His hands automatically grasped desperately onto the wrist of the hand pinning him to the wall by the throat and crushing his wind pipe to an extent that he could still force breath in, but it was a struggle. The creature holding him was just out of touching range, making any attempt at kicking his captor pointless.

He realized his error instantly and violently cursed himself for not thinking of this possible outcome. His reitasu suppressing device had been set for Ichigo's unique reiatsu signature. Now that the signature had changed, the very core of it separated, the suppression device no longer recognized its target. Like having a machine that prevent the colour orange from going through, but if you separated the components back into red and yellow the machine ignored it.

"**Oi, Zangetsu, get King out of there and to pet. He****'****s in trouble,****"**the hollow pinning him ordered in a deep, echoing voice.

"Don't call him that H'tsu," Ichigo's voice ordered exhaustedly as he was let out of his chamber by the third being.

"He's about to lay,"

Ichigo stiffened before racing out of the room as if he was in perfect shape, not even sparing the pinned scientist a second glance.

"What about you?" Zangetsu questioned in a rather deep voice.

"**I****'****ll catch up later,****"**H'tsu promised with a wide smirk, not once taking his eyes off of Szayel's.

Despite himself Szayel found he could not break that gaze and felt himself go completely still in the others grasp. He just knew that even twitching would be the end of his life. The reiatsu washing over him from the enraged Hollow holding him pinned to the wall left his own trembling in fright. He had never been the strongest and had used his brains to stay on top. Somehow he had a sickening feeling that this creature was not only powerful, but smart as well, a very dangerous combination.

He silently pleaded for the Shinigami to remain, for he had a feeling things were going to get unpleasant once he was alone with this creature.

Zangetsu just gave a nod of his head and exited the room as well, leaving the two hollows alone.

"**You know, I have had some time to think about what I was going to do to you when I finally had you in my claws,****"**H'tsu purred at him, close the last little distance between them so their bodies were pressed together. **"****I thought of rending the flesh from your bones. I though of slowly tearing your mask off and watching your life force escape as you withered in agony and regressed to a blubbering child like Nel had become before ending your pitiful existence.****"**

He felt terror grip his stomach for this creature holding him easily had the power to do such things, and more, to him.

"**But do you know what I had never figured on?****"**H'tsu asked him in a near whisper as he brought his free hand up to cup the side of Szayel's face and stroke his cheek with a clawed thumb.

The question clearly demanded an answer and, too terrified and short on breath to speak, he gave his head a small shake the best he could in the others grip. The longer the creature spoke, the more time he had to live, and maybe think of something that could help him.

H'tsu smirked and brought his head beside his captive so they were cheek to cheek.

"**I never figured how fucking beautiful your eyes are when they are wide in terror,****"**H'tsu whispered in a dark seductive tone into his ear.

He swallowed nervously and felt his body begin to tremble against H'tsu's. He could feel the others cheek muscles shift against his own as the hollow smirked.

"**So now I find myself unwilling to kill you just yet, when before the thought of your blood on my claws made me so fucking hard.****"** H'tsu's voice actually sounded like he was pouting. **"****But I think I have a solution. After all, King wont let me play with his own pet, and I know you are rather intelligent, so tell me,****"** H'tsu retreated just enough so they were once more looking eye to golden eye and his wide, malicious smirk was plainly visible, **"****what happens when two powerful Hollows meet and the stronger one can't bring itself to kill the weaker?****"**

(POV)

Ichigo raced down the halls, ignoring the lingering pain in his chest from when his soul had literally been ripped apart. H'tsu's words replayed over and over in his mind and the frantic feeling he had felt earlier about needing to be somewhere suddenly made sense.

He needed to get to Grimmjow, and nothing was going to stand in his way. Despite being only the 'human' part of his soul, he still had some reiatsu, not nearly as much as when he was whole, but enough that he could still sense where Grimmjow was.

Zangetsu caught up to him quickly as the Shinigmai half of his power was, after all, **literally** half of his power. Unlike his own naked state, H'tsu and Zangetsu had manifested in their full forms, clothing and all.

The lab he had been held in was actually not that far from where he was sensing Grimmjow was being held, but the two hundred meters felt more like two hundred miles as he raced towards the distressed reiatsu.

When he finally reached the door blocking him from Grimmjow his hands trembled so much as he tried to force the keypad locked door open that he kept fumbling at the device.

"Ichigo, calm down. He is in no danger yet," Zangetsu ordered calmly.

Ichigo forced himself to take a deep breath as the calming voice, if not the words, washed over him. Zangetsu always did have that affect on him and panicking was not going to do Grimmjow any good if he was in serious trouble.

Calmed down slightly, he forced himself to work the keypad slower until the door kissed open and he was able to step inside. He blinked in surprise at the state of the room, for the walls were completely shredded and there was a pile of unidentifiable meet in the corner he tried not to look too hard at.

Blue, clearly distressed eyes snapped up to meet his from under the slab like bed and through a large pile of shredded stuffing. Ichigo rushed over and felt a wave of relief wash over him as he noticed Grimmjow appeared to be relatively fine, if not soaked in sweat and clearly in some for of distress.

"Kurosaki?"

"Yeah, it's me. Are you alright?" he questioned as calmly as he could.

"Just fucking peachy," Grimmjow answered with a snarl before winching and clutching at his abdomen. "Fuck," he cursed.

"H'tsu said you should be laying soon. What do you need me to do?" he asked.

"I don't know," Grimmjow admitted. "This is a first for me too and the normal system we have as Adjucas changed when I became an Arrancar. As an Adjucas our reproductive systems are closer to say, a female hyena."

"What about a Vasto Lorde?" Zangetsu asked.

"When we reach that stage we go full male or full female. I have never heard of a pregnant male Vasto Lorde, but we honestly don't spend a lot of time talking to each other," Grimmjow answered before hissing in pain.

"Can you come out from under there? I can't help you in there," Ichigo requested softly.

There was no doubt in his mind that despite the tough outlook Grimmjow was giving off, he was terrified. No one knew what to expect or what to do and if something went wrong there was no one to help them.

Grimmjow slowly crawled out from the nest he had made under the slab but made no motion to go further or even stand up. Instead he hissed in pain and an odd whimper escaped his throat.

Ichigo didn't even hesitate as he got down on his knees beside the suffering former Espada and gently rubbed a hand along his lower back, making soothing noises.

"What ever happens, I am here," Ichigo assured him. "And I wont leave no matter how ugly things get."

"What makes you think I want you here Shinigami?" Grimmjow questioned with a growl.

Despite the situation, Ichigo found himself smirking. His words may say one thing, but the way his Beta was leaning into his touch spoke of a completely different reaction to his presence.

"If our situations were reversed, would you care that I didn't want you here?" he questioned, already knowing the answer.

A growl was all the answer Grimmjow was willing to give him before it was cut off by a howl of pain. Ichigo caught Grimmjow as he fell onto his side, holding onto the shivering Arrancar and once more making soothing sounds.

He wished there was something he could do to ease the other's suffering, hell he wished he knew what was truly going on and how to handle it, but no one did, not even the one who was suffering.

Grimmjow gave another cry of pain and a sharp shudder before suddenly going still in Ichigo's grasp. Ichigo felt a large sense of déjà vu rush into him as a large hole appeared in Grimmjow's abdomen, reminding him greatly of the time Aizen had removed the Hogyoku from Rukia's chests and recalling the conversation about how something could be stored in a soul that went with the event. A large, oval, light grey object appeared and slowly came out before resting gently on the ground and the hole repaired itself.

Ichigo stared at the obvious egg in shock, feeling the thrumming of life as it pulsed from beneath the safety of it's shell. This was his, something he had helped create and it was so clearly alive, even if it was not yet in a form he could recognize.

Grimmjow whimpered and stirred, breaking the trance Ichigo found himself in. He was slick with sweat and panting lightly, but otherwise seemed to be completely fine after having a hole just appear and disappear. Rukia had been fine afterwards too and he hoped there would be no side effects on Grimmjow just like there hadn't been any side effects for Rukia.

"Ours?" Grimmjow questioned weakly once he caught his breath a little, glazed blue eyes staring at the egg laying beside them.

"Ours," Ichigo agreed, reaching out and hesitating only briefly before pulling the egg closer to their bodies so they could curl up around it.

The texture of the shell reminded him of any other egg he had ever handled, but unlike those eggs (already cold and dead) this one was clearly alive and warm, and a hell of a lot larger. Ichigo honestly had no idea how Grimmjow had kept his figure packing around something that large inside of him.

Exhaustion finally caught up to the former Espada and in all honesty, Ichigo really didn't feel like moving anytime soon either.

"Rest," Zangetsu suddenly ordered, causing Ichigo to jerk slightly in surprise.

He had completely forgotten his Zanpakuto's spirit had been in the room with him.

"I will watch while you all rest," Zangetsu assured him.

Ichigo gave a nod of his head and curled more comfortably around the Arrancar in his arms and the egg they had both created.

Pregnancy sucks… Anyhow, this chapter actually turned out pretty good. No idea when the next one will be ready, probably not until some time after Christmas. Hope you feel better soon Black Storm


	18. Separation

**Warning**: the second half of this chapter contains extreme heat. Please make sure you have a fan ready or that your air conditioning unit is fully on. For those of you in Arctic regions, reading outside may be recommended. Enjoy.

Separation

Grimmjow expressed an intense interest to head back to his den after they woke up the following morning. Ichigo whole-heartedly agreed. This room was too sterile and drab and at least back at Grimmjow's room they had some of their supplies, like his food for starters (assuming Szayel hadn't move any of it).

He was a little nervous about moving the large egg, but Grimmjow cradled it to his chest without the slightest hint of worry about harming it or the being forming within.

The trip had been slow and they had to rest often as neither one of them had much in the way of strength at the moment; Grimmjow from laying the egg and Ichigo from having his soul torn asunder.

Through it all, Zangetsu remained a silent guardian and Ichigo only wondered briefly where H'tsu was before deciding he was just happy the hollow was elsewhere and not making an annoyance of himself. Still, he didn't breath easier until after both Grimmjow and the egg were settled into the nest of blankets and pillows in Grimmjow's quarters.

Grimmjow was slow to recover, but at least he was recovering. Now that the egg had been laid, the reiatsu he gained from his meals was his to use and remained with him, rather than being siphoned away. The former Espada still slept often, curled around the egg and refused to move from his post. In fact Ichigo was damn sure the Espada would starve himself to death before moving. His instinct to protect their young was apparently that strong.

Ichigo understood all too well. It took a great deal of willpower on his part to leave the two of them alone to scrounge up what food he could. The pile of body parts in the room Szayel had been holding Grimmjow prisoner had been the first to go. There had still been several packets of the taffy like food remaining, but even that didn't last long under Grimmjow voracious appetite. He hated to do it, but Ichigo forced himself to leave the den to try and find _something_ for the recovering Arrancar to eat.

"Ichigo," Zangetsu's calm voice called his attention.

"What is it Jii-san?" Ichigo questioned tiredly.

"How long do you plan to let H'tsu run free?"

Ichigo sighed at the question. He really didn't want to think about his hollow half at the moment. As far as he was concerned he had far more important things to worry about; such as his incoming child and the state of his partner.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I haven't heard from him in the last three days. I've kind of had other things on my mind."

"You can not leave him free for long; we need to become one again. I know you can feel the pull already."

Ichigo nodded his head in agreement. He could feel the pull of his soul, and the longer he left things the way they were, the harder it was going to be to remerge. There was also the fact that as a human he was far weaker, and the weak here did not live for long. He was going to need his powers back soon to protect his family.

He blinked at the thought but could not deny it. The child was his, and thus family, making the other parent family as well by default. He wondered what Grimmjow thought of their relationship. They had never really talked about things like that as they'd had more pressing issues on their minds.

"I will check on H'tsu for you. You need to hunt. There is no more food here and Grimmjow needs his kind of food to regain his strength,"

"Yeah, I know," Ichigo sighed.

He had been trying to hold off for as long as he could, but there was no putting it off anymore. Grimmjow needed to eat something substantial but the thought of slaughtering a thinking creature to be consumed still didn't sit well with him. Fortunately, today seemed to be a lucky day for on his way to the exit of Las Noches he stumbled across a pantry. He tried not to think about what it was he was hauling back, but at least he didn't have to hunt just yet. The food in this storage area should last at least a few more days.

(POV)

Zangetsu traced H'tsu's reiatsu back to Szayel's laboratory. He was surprised the Hollow was still hanging about down here, but even more surprised to sense the low pulse of the pink haired arrancar's reiatsu indicating the former Espada was still actually alive. The pulse was weak though and Zangetsu figured that H'tsu must almost be done paying their tormentor back.

He didn't sense H'tsu actually down here at the moment but knew the hollow half of their soul would not be far from his prey for long, so he converged on the room holding H'tsu's captive with the intent to wait for him.

Zangetsu opened the door and felt a moment of shock, although the only sign of his surprise was a slight rise of one eyebrow hidden mostly behind his shades. The sight that met his eyes stunned him as he stepped into a room similar to the one Grimmjow had been held in during his captivity.

Szayel was in far better condition than Zangetsu expected to see for such a low reiatsu state. His naked body was covered in deep scratches, some still lightly oozing blood. His neck looked like it had been mauled by a wild animal and sported one very deep set of bite marks that still oozed blood. His hair was damp, stained a darker pink in several areas from blood and clouted with a variety of liquids. Otherwise the former Espada appeared to actually be in one piece and suffering from no major wounds or ailments that he could detect.

Szayel's golden eyes flashed fearfully up at him when the door opened, blinked twice in surprise, before dropping to stare at the slab he was resting upon, bowing his head in submission.

Apparently Szayel fell into his state as a Beta (for Zangetsu could sense the budding reiatsu forming inside the Arrancar) far more quickly and gracefully than Grimmjow had. In all honesty Zangetsu was not surprised. H'tsu was a very dominate person and far out powered Szayel; where as Grimmjow and Ichigo not only had previous history, but both were much closer to each other in power levels and dominance. It was only Ichigo's stronger reiatsu that had brought him out on top in the end for both men had about equal determination… or stubbornness depending on which way you wanted to look at it.

The scent of blood, sweat and semen was strong in the air and the once white slab and nearby walls were stained with all three fluids. There was absolutely no doubt in Zangetsu's mind about what H'tsu had been doing with his captive for the last three days.

"Where is your Alpha?" Zangetsu questioned calmly.

"I don't know, possibly hunting," Szayel answered with a soft shake of his head and a very, very submissive voice that sounded unlike anything Zangetsu had heard from the scientist before.

Yes, Szayel had been thoroughly cowed and broken, and Zangetsu was certain H'tsu had used the last few days to make sure that Szayel knew just what sort of position the now impregnated Arrancar held with him. He wondered how much was true submission brought on by the mating and how much was an act the Arrancar was putting on for the sake of survival.

Probably a mixture of both, if Zangetsu was any judge of things. Szayel was an intelligent individual and had no doubt read and decoded H'tsu's countenance rather quickly; understanding that a meek and submissive Beta was _exactly_ what H'tsu desired. He did recall Grimmjow commenting that it was instinct for the Beta to appease their Alpha least the Alpha grow uninterested and abandon them, a deadly thing while carrying a child in Hueco Mundo. So that left the question open again; how much of the submission was instinct, how much was an act by a rather intelligent being buying himself time to find an out and how much was it _training_ H'tsu had already implemented?

This entire affair was definitely making Zangetsu's eye twitch in annoyance. It would take a month for Szayel to lay the egg and Zangetsu knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that they would need to remerge before that time was up. Moreover, he knew Ichigo. The teen would take responsibility for H'tsu's actions and make sure that Sazyel made it to term. He wondered how Grimmjow was going to feel about having the other impregnated former Esapda nearby or if they wouldn't start fighting immediately.

Sazyel was also nothing like Grimmjow. Zangetsu doubted the scientist would be thankful for the assistance and once the child was born and the mating completed there would be nothing holding Sazyel in submission and he might turn on them. Of course without access to his equipment the Arrancar really was no threat to any of them, but it never paid to discount the potential for Szayel to turn on them if given the opportunity.

Of course, there was no telling what would happen when H'tsu and Ichigo remerged. That alone might break the bond of Alpha and Beta, setting the scientist free, but somehow Zangetsu severely doubted it. Murphy's Law was in full effect when it came to Ichigo; if something could go wrong, it would. The teen truly had no luck.

Then there was the urges to mark ones Beta. H'tsu was going to have those from time to time and he wondered if Ichigo would suffer from them as well. Somehow he doubted the teen would feel comfortable sleeping with this Arrancar and he knew Ichigo did not like giving his body up to H'tsu to let the hollow out. Either way once they remerged who was in front didn't matter when the body was the same. H'tsu had just created one hell of a bloody mess and Zangetsu did not relish the thought of playing referee between human and Hollow while trying to clean this, simply put, cluster fuck up.

"**Oi, Zangetsu, what brings you down here?****"**H'tsu questioned.

He had detected H'tsu's reiatsu returned and stepped to the side to let H'tsu waltz into the room, smelling strongly of dead hollow, blood and, more faintly as if aged, sex. Most of the scents came from the corpse casually draped over his shoulder.

Because he had not turned completely around he had full view of Szayel and watched as the Arrancar actually cringed and cowered some more against the corner of the wall, trying to appear as meek and submissive as possible. H'tsu smirked and gave off a purr of pleasure at the sight of his pet.

"Ichigo was worried about you," Zangetsu answered the question, trying to keep his tone even instead of letting any of his irritation through. He did have an image to maintain after all.

"**Ha, I doubt King is worried about me at all. All of his attention would be on his pet and his young,****"** H'tsu sniffed.

Szayel was doing his best not to eye the corpse too strongly and Zangetsu wondered if H'tsu had been starving the Arrancar or if Szayel was suffering from the same hunger pains that had assaulted Grimmjow, although it had taken much longer for Grimmjow to show such signs of hunger.

"You know him better than that. He worries about everyone," Zangetsu pointed out.

"**True enough, over sentimental idiot. Has he been hunting? I haven****'****t seen him out there.****"**

"No. So far they have found enough local stock."

"**Pfft, stupid idiot,****"**H'tsu growled in annoyance. **"****The pet****'****s going to need real food to regain his strength after laying.****"**As he spoke H'tsu dropped the carcass he was carrying onto the floor and approached Szayel.

Zangetsu remained silent and observed as H'tsu held out his blood soaked hand just beyond Szayel's face. He could tell the Arrancar was starving and the look of longing on his face indicated his hunger, but he made no move to lick the blood off of his Alpha's fingers, like he clearly wanted to, and only gave off a whimper softly at the back of his throat to indicate his need.

"**He****'****s such a good pet,****"**H'tsu purred in pleasure.

Smiling down at Szayel, H'tsu finally brushed his blood coated thumb along the former Espada's lips, leaving a trail of blood smeared across them like poorly applied lipstick. It must have been a signal of permission for Szayel quickly started to lick the blood off of H'tsu's hand like a starved beast, leaving not a drop behind before licking the blood from his lips and turning his hungered gaze to the corpse.

"**You know how this work,****"**H'tsu smirked down, clearly addressing his pet. **"****Was their anything else Zangetsu?****"** H'tsu asked in a voice tinged with fake innocents even though it was clear his attention was on the naked arrancar and not the Zanpakuto spirit.

"You know as well as I do that we can not stay separated from Ichigo forever."

H'tsu scowled and made no remark to the statement, keeping his attention on Szayel, who was now in the process of removing H'tsu's blood stained clothing with hands that trembled only slightly, be it from hunger or fear Zangetsu couldn't tell but he suspected it was probably from a bit of both.

Zangetsu shook his head and left before he would have to witness anymore. Not that the scene disturbed him overmuch, after all he was there every time Ichigo and Grimmjow mated, but he had no further reason to remain as H'tsu was clearly not interested in speaking to him and he was not going to waste his breath.

A soft cry of pain reached his ears before he turned the corner leading to the stairs, and it sure as heck hadn't been H'tsu's. Zangetsu shook his head again and briefly wondered if H'tsu was capable of doing anything without it involving violence in some manner. Somehow, he severely doubted it.

(POV)

Ichigo had apparently come to the conclusion that they both desperately needed a shower. It had probably been over a week since the last time they had cleaned themselves up and both of them were beginning to smell. Even the blankets and pillows in the nest could use a good washing. He knew this, Grimmjow even agreed with it, but that didn't make prying himself out of the nest and away from his egg any easier.

Too much stress had caused his instincts to go into full protective mode and the thought of letting his egg out of sight had his instincts screaming in protest. Here it was, his young finally laid and just waiting to be hatched. After all those years of trying, failing and finally giving up hope he was so close now. He refused to let anything happen to prevent him from meeting the cub he had been waiting upon, for longer than he cared to think about, that would be joining them in less than a month.

It was giving him a migraine. His brain, and nose, totally agreed with his Alpha's orders to clean up, but his instincts and body refused to budge from his egg least it be threatened like they had been before.

"Come on Grimmjow. Look, we can wash most of the blankets first and make a new nest with them and wash the rest after," Ichigo pressed.

"I am fine with that," he snorted.

They had been having this conversation for the last few hours now, Ichigo was just starting to come up with various options instead of trying to coax, wheedle, and order him to comply. Admittedly the orders almost had him moving, and probably would have if the teen had not been torn into three and the full brunt of his reiatsu had thus been capable of encompassing the room. He missed that comforting thrumming and refused to admit it.

"And then we can take a shower."

"No," he growled.

"We both need one badly. At this rate the stench will attract things before my uncontrolled reiatsu does," Ichigo wheedled.

"You reiatsu is so low right now since your separation you don't need to control it," he snorted.

"Okay, how about I shower first, then I can guard the egg while you shower?"

He squirmed at that one. Normally he would have been fine with it, but with Ichigo currently essentially human, the teen lacked the power he usually had.

"Zangetsu is here too, and there is no threat here that he can not handle," Ichigo pressed.

He felt his instinct sooth at that. It was the Alpha's duty to care for him and their young and he trusted the teen. Finally relenting, he gave a nod of his head in agreement. Ichigo sighed in relief at finally winning before gathering most of the blankets up and stripping the pillows of their cases. Grimmjow moved himself and the egg over to a single large pillow with two blankets and watched Ichigo bundling all the laundry up in one of the larger blankets before disappearing for some time.

He always felt apprehensive when Ichigo was gone and could never sleep until he returned. It was a good two hours before Ichigo returned with the pile of fresh blankets and the teen was clean as well, no doubt having stolen one of the other showers scattered through out the fortress while doing the laundry.

Truth be told, Grimmjow didn't even know where the laundry room was. There had been lesser Arrancar to do such chores for him and he figured Ichigo must have found the room during one of his hunts for food.

The fresh clean and dryer-warmed blankets called to him as he watched Ichigo arrange the pile into a new nest on a clean spot of floor before approaching him.

"Alright, go shower and I will watch the egg," Ichigo ordered sternly.

Reluctantly, he uncurled himself from around the egg and headed towards his bathroom with the intent to take as quick of a shower as was possible. He stepped into the hot water and couldn't help but to let out a sigh as the soothing spray of water assaulted tight muscles and washed away pounds of dried sweat and dust. He felt his tension slowly wash away as the water ran over his body and he gave out another, deeper sigh as he felt his wired instincts slowly relax.

He was safe, his cub was safe, his Alpha was here and ready to guard them all with his very life. The threat was gone and he was finally regaining his strength, enough that he might actually be able to start hunting for himself in a week or so since he knew how Ichigo felt about such things.

What had been meant as a 2 minute shower turned into a 45 minute shower and by the time he stepped out he was feeling refreshed and almost 'human' again. He was still feeling the fatigue from hunger and from laying, but it was a much less stressful feeling and his instincts were no longer high strung. In fact, he was feeling a little bit frisky. It had been some time since the last time Ichigo had refreshed the markers.

Leaving the washroom he noticed that Ichigo was curled up in the new nest around the egg, apparently dozing lightly and actually naked. The rest of the nest that needed washing was piled by the door as well as some of Ichigo's dirty laundry. He had none for unlike him Ichigo felt the need for clothing more keenly than he did. He couldn't recall the last time he had worn anything substantial and it frankly didn't bother him.

"Feeling better?" Ichigo murmured, opened his eyes to gaze up at him, eyes that were also hazed over in lust. Apparently having his soul split did nothing to stop those brown eyes turning golden when instinct reared up.

"Much," he agreed, forcing his way between Ichigo and their impending young.

Ichigo shifted to give him room before wrapping an arm around him and pressing their bodies together, making his own aroused state rather obvious as their skin pressed together. Ichigo's skin was nice and cool against his own flushed flesh, hot from the shower and still damp despite drying off.

The hand that had wrapped around him didn't stay idle for long before those deft fingers began to tease him, taunting one of his nipples by brushing ever so gently over it, causing it to harden completely as it sought more of that wonderful attention, Ichigo's hand abandoned it for the one that had been ignored, teasing it into life as well.

He shivered in delight and almost jumped as soft lips latched onto the side of his neck and slowly suckled their way towards his throat, the rough tongue lavishing his skin felt hot, even to his shower heated body. The delicious moist attention had his nether regions quickly tightening.

"I know you are tired, but are you up for some attention?" Ichigo asked in a gravely voice, proving once and for all that H'tsu was not the true power behind Ichigo's instinct induced lovemaking.

"Bring it on, if you can," he taunted, trying to hold back a smirk and seem indifferent.

The attempted ploy didn't work so well as his permission to continue prompted the teen to latch his teeth quickly onto his throat and began to maul it viciously. The attack drawing a small trickle of blood and causing him to shiver in delight at the fear and pleasure that rippled through his body and brought precum to the front of his now straining, and so far neglected, arousal. The blood that did come out of his neck was quickly licked and sucked up by the now hormonally high teen, who moaned in pleasure and began to rub their bodies together, making his own very aroused state rather clear as it rubbed promisingly of things to come in the valley between his ass cheeks.

A groan of pleasure was torn from his throat against his will as Ichigo's hand tweaked a nipple, almost painfully, before it began a torturously slow journey down his body. Nails scratched lightly against his skin and raising the flesh in their wake without actually breaking the surface on their journey south. His breath hitched as Ichigo's hand traveled lower and brushed over his thigh, stroking it firmly and pointedly ignoring the part of his body that was practically begging for attention.

He nearly jumped when that hand suddenly grasped him, the rough calluses pulling against his flesh and the thumb assaulting his tip, spreading the leaking pre-cum and causing his hips to buck into that hand to gain more of that wonderful friction. Ichigo bit down on his neck, causing him to go still even though he was fairly certain the teen didn't have the jaw power, or fangs, to truly threaten him. It was just an instinctive response.

The hand wrapped around him began to stroke him gently, the thumb spreading more of the slowly oozing liquid around and torturing his highly sensitive tip. He let out a bit of a whimper as the need to move rushed upon him and his flushed body rose sharply in temperature. His breath came out in pants, each one causing the teeth holding onto his throat to scrape dangerously and oh so delightfully. His eyes snapped shut as he fought to keep his body still when all he wanted to do was to thrust into the warm hand torturing him.

Ichigo, who had also stilled his own body minus the hand torturing his mate, began to thrust against his body, rubbing his engorged length against him and leaving a small trail of his own pre-cum along Grimmjow's rear. The teeth holding onto his neck loosened and Grimmjow took the silent permission to finally start thrusting into that hand. He could feel his release coming, it was so close.

As abruptly as it had snagged him, the hand suddenly released him and snagged his hips instead, pulling him over to lay on his back. Startled blue eyes met lust empowered gold and he felt a shiver run down his body at the promise of both power and pleasure those wild eyes assured him was to come.

The eye contact was broken as Ichigo moved in and thrust his tongue into Grimmjow's panting mouth, the taste of his own blood touched his lips and the teen took the first round without a fight. The moment the shock wore off he fought back, his own tongue attacking Ichigo's. He was winning the second round too until the teen cheated by once more grasping his weeping length and stroking his thumb across the top, which naturally caused Grimmjow to buck his hips in pleasure and lose his concentration.

Snarling at losing the second round, he started to fight back dirty as well, bringing his hands up and running his sharp claws down Ichigo's back, drawing a thin trail of blood and causing his Alpha to let out a gasp of delighted pleasure, giving him the third round of their tongue war. Never one to give up easily, Ichigo continued to fight back, stroking Grimmjow's length firmly and increasing the pressure of his thumb while bringing a free hand up assault one of his nipples, resulting in him winning the fourth round.

Snarling as best he could with another tongue in his mouth, Grimmjow rolled them over so he was now on top. He hated to admit defeat in anything, but if he could not win that battle he would find one he would. It was the war that mattered and so help him this time Ichigo would be the first to cum. With the egg laid his, instinctive Beta-like behaviour was slowly starting to wear off and it was time Ichigo recalled just what he was dealing with.

He attacked one of Ichigo's nipples with his mouth, suckling biting and lashing it with his tongue, causing the teen to moan pleasantly beneath him. One hand assaulted the other and sweat slowly started to break out over Ichigo's body. Smirking in triumph he continued to lavish attention to one nipple with his hand while his mouth explored the planes of Ichigo's chest, his teeth sinking lightly into the skin just enough to draw small beads of blood that he eagerly lapped up.

He could not wait until the cub was hatched and raised and he could be the one to take his proper place as Alpha. If Ichigo's blood was this intoxicating normally he wondered just how much sweeter it was going to taste when it was his turn to be the Beta. The taste of his Alpha's blood in his mouth, a very rare treat to a Beta, aroused him far further than he could have ever imagined and before long he was assaulting the flesh quickly and rubbing their bodies together in a desperate bid to get the friction his lower body was screaming for.

A hand once more wrapped firmly around his fully aroused and aching length, trapping it along side Ichigo's as the teen stroked them together. He let out a roar of pleasure and continued his assault along the teens collar bone, leaving a trail of minor bite marks that glisten with the salvia left over from licking the blood that welled. In the rush of heat and passion he forgot his place and moved his mouth above Ichigo's collar bone towards his neck.

The sudden angered power of his Alpha slammed into him and he found himself flipped back under Ichigo, his Alpha's teeth latched sharply onto his throat and the thrumming reiatsu assaulting his own. Apparently being physically separated from Zangetsu and H'tsu didn't matter as he felt Ichigo's reiatsu suddenly rise and overpower his own still weakened state.

He froze completely as his error suddenly registered in his fog addled mind. He gave off a soft whimper in way of apology for forgetting his place and let his body go limp, most of it anyway. Even under the sudden aggressive admonishment from his Alpha he remained painfully rock hard and desperate for friction.

The teeth latched to his throat squeezed once in a silent (and dangerous had he been a hollow instead of human) reminder as to who was the one on top and Alpha before releasing and Ichigo's tongue soothed the bruised flesh in acceptance of his apology. Grimmjow moved slowly and once more ran his hands up and down Ichigo's back, adding more thin red lines to the ones he had made earlier. The transgression was quickly forgotten as once more their hands and mouths explored each others body, leaving thin trails of red in their wake that glistened with sweat and saliva.

Flesh moved desperately against flesh as they ground their pelvises together to gain as much friction as they could. Touches and kisses became more desperate until he finally felt Ichigo's hands snake down and wrap around his thighs before pulling them up and the tip of his Alpha's arousal, soaked in sweat and pre-cum, probed his entrance.

The new position left him unable to reach Ichigo's body with his mouth, but he made up for that by running his claws over Ichigo's shoulders instead, claws that tightened into the flesh beneath him when he felt the tip push past his tight muscles and into his body.

He gasped and writhed at the slight pain the intrusion brought, for in their lust and rush to mate they had not prepared his entrance. Ichigo apparently retained enough sense to understand for the intrusion was slow, almost painfully slow, and those feral golden eyes watched him intently for any signs of distress.

Finally, the full length was seated inside of him and he felt his walls flex as they adjusted to the intrusion. After a moment his claws in Ichigo's shoulders relaxed and his Alpha took that as a sign it was safe to proceed.

Ichigo pulled out of him slowly before thrusting back in, the tip of his head hitting dead on Grimmjow's prostate and earning a soft cry of shocked pleasure from him. He had no idea how in the seven hells Ichigo always seemed to know exactly where it was and could hit it dead on each time.

Grimmjow grit his teeth and let his claws dig into Ichigo's shoulders again, refusing to let the teen force him to cum first, but it was damn hard to hold on as that shaft picked up pace and began to slam relentlessly into his prostate. He squirmed, trying to change their position so Ichigo would miss the mark, but no matter how much he shifted and squirmed, Ichigo never missed his mark.

He panted heavily and struggled beneath his Alpha, trying to flip them over or do anything to prevent himself from reaching relief, which judging by how tight and pleasantly painful his groin was getting, was going to be pretty damn quick while Ichigo looked like he could go on for another hour or so.

Suddenly Ichigo pulled away and out, leaving him panting desperately for breath and feeling empty and completely unsatisfied. He didn't have time to question why Ichigo had suddenly stopped and retreated before he felt hands on his hips and he was flipped around to his chest and guided to his hands and knees.

Ichigo's fingers massaged his rear, stroking it and squeezing it softly, at least until Grimmjow managed to get his shaking limbs under control, before bringing their bodies flushed together once more. He had a moment to register the fact they were about to resumed where they had left off before that thick length forced its way in, this time in a sharp thrust that showed no signs of kindness or politeness.

He roared in a mixture of pleasure and pain as he was once more stretched and Ichigo proved he still knew exactly where that prostate was, hitting it four times in quick succession before finally taking pity on him and shifting his position slightly so that his length only lightly brushed the nub of pleasure inside of him.

Or perhaps it wasn't pity, but a show of strength and ownership for the light touches were almost worse than the full on hits and before he knew it he was shifting about trying to stop the teasing. He was still so painfully hard and he desperately wanted to get some damn friction on his own length, which swung back and forth beneath him as his body was rocked back and forth by his Alpha's strong thrusts into him.

The torture continued, his own length ignored and his prostate only getting the lightest of touches. The only place Ichigo was currently touching him was where they were joined and the very tips of his fingers that held Grimmjow's hips in place and balanced the teen.

He wanted more friction damn it. He wanted to feel their skin touching and to feel the surprisingly deft hands of his Alpha stroking him. To feel that tongue and teeth lavish his flesh. He wanted to beg for it, but what was left of his pride kept his mouth shut. Not even relegated as a Beta would he _ever_ beg for it. Thus the whimper of need that escaped his throat _clearly_ came from Ichigo and not him.

Finally taking pity, or perhaps just appeased that it was once again clear who was in charge, Grimmjow was suddenly assaulted with the stimulation he had silently been craving. Teeth, accompanied by lips, suddenly latched onto his left shoulder and began that biting/kissing/licking journey across the blades to the other side. A calloused rough hand reached down and latched onto his straining arousal, stopping its swinging and began to stroke him firmly, the thumb once more assaulting the tip and spreading around the large amount of weeping fluid that was now all but gushing out. Best, and worse, of all was the resounding lash of pleasure that coursed through his body when Ichigo once more nailed his prostate dead on, causing his arms to give way so he was resting on his chest and his fingers clawing the blankets.

Through it all Ichigo never once slowed his pace, in fact he picked it up, thrusting into him almost like a wild animal. The teeth grazing his shoulders sought his neck instead and nipped into it sharply, mauling him like the beast Ichigo was currently acting like. The only sign Ichigo had not completely lost his mind was the fact the hand stroking and torturing his length was still gentle, although under all the wonderful stimulations of pain and pleasure Grimmjow hardly noticed that.

He almost lost his mind as the pounding Ichigo was giving him actually started to move them a bit across the floor and the burning need for release was right there, but some part of his mind recalled his promise; that this time Ichigo would be the first to cum.

Desperate for any resemblance of control, anything to hold out on the top of the dam that was ready to burst, he bit savagely into his own arm; which served the duel purpose of preventing any further cries, whimpers and moans of pleasure. His desperate act did not go unnoticed by Ichigo.

Once more Ichigo shifted behind him slightly so he was now no longer hitting Grimmjow's prostate at all. The sudden loss of pleasure took him by surprise, as did the sudden absence of teeth on his throat and the hand wrapped around him. He was so startled that Ichigo was able to flip him around back onto his back without any resistance. Feral gold stared unnervingly into confused blue and for a brief moment he was certain he had somehow displeased his Alpha and was now about to be punished by being left unsatisfied.

Ichigo suddenly grinned at him, a grin that sent fire coursing through his veins and promised something; although what that something was he wasn't sure. Without breaking eye contact Ichigo slowly lowered his head and gave him a victorious smirk just before wrapping his lips around Grimmjow's length and giving three, firm sucks that sent the former Espada over the edge at the erotic sight of his Alpha taking him in, not to mention the amazing feeling of the texture of Ichigo's tongue swirling over the overly sensitive head of his groin.

Grimmjow's back arched off of the ground and the cry he gave off could have been heard through out the entire fortress had the walls not been built soundproofing in mind. He trembled and shook as the intense orgasm ran in waves through his body, pushed along by a vindictive tongue that continued to stroke the head of his arousal until every drop of cum was milked from his body, leaving him completely drained and boneless.

He forced his eyes open to see the smirk of triumph was still on Ichigo's face and the sight of some of his own cum on those lips almost made him hard again, and probably would have if he had any strength left, but after such an intense orgasm he doubted even Kami himself could get hard so quickly.

Okay, Ichigo licking his lips like a hungry predator enjoying the taste of blood instead of his Beta's cum damn near did it, but there was just nothing left in him after that. Of course, this still left a very aroused Ichigo and he didn't protest, the lack of strength notwithstanding in his lack of protesting, as the teen settled between his legs and propped him up slightly before diving back into his limp body. Two dozen slow strokes later and he felt the hot release of Ichigo fill him.

Unlike him though, Ichigo did no seem to be exhausted and pulled out to curl up around him without any trouble breathing, although he was breathing a bit harder. A thought suddenly slammed into his head and in a panic his gaze shot around the nest searching for their egg.

It was resting safely nearby, wrapped up in warm blankets and surrounded on all sides by protective pillows. He hadn't even realized that Ichigo had done such a thing during their lovemaking and wondered when it had happened as all he could recall was toe curling pleasure.

Assured his young was safe he rested comfortably against Ichigo's chest and sighed pleasure as he felt Ichigo's tongue clean the blood away from the many scratch and bite marks that littered his body.

"You know," Ichigo purred into his ear once they both had regained their respective breaths and his 'wounds' had all been seen to, "we are both going to need a shower again."

He laughed softly in agreement, but neither one of them made any motion to move just yet.

* * *

><p>You all have no idea how long it took me to write that scene because I had to keep stopping and cooling down myself. I hope you all enjoyed it. Special Thanks to my two wonderful women who checked the chapter over for errors and sentence structure. They are the ones who really made it that much more special.<p>

Happy Holidays all and I hope you enjoyed the smut.

As for the egg being laid Black Storm: yes another hole was opened in Grimmjow's stomach, almost exactly like the way Aizen retrieved his precious jewel from inside of Rukia but without the ritual. I thought of that and said to myself, well that would work for laying an egg and make it far closer to cannon make far more 'biological sense.


	19. Remerging and Regret

Remerging and Regret

Ichigo was starting to feel considerably uncomfortable, almost like his soul was stretched too thin. He hadn't notice it too much in the beginning, but by the end of the first week after his soul had been split, the feeling became more powerful and unnerving. By the end of the second week it was down right unpleasant. He was nearing the middle of the third week and he could tell that time was running out before remerging would become difficult, if not impossible.

He was completely comfortable with remerging with Zangetsu, but he was not in so much of a rush to have H'tsu back in his head, assuming they could remerge easily anyhow. He hoped they could, for right now he was just a spiritually powerful human. He could still draw on their powers but it was not instant.

Zangetsu was completely right, they were going to have to remerge before his soul stretch to the breaking point and they were permanently separated. As much as he would almost wish to be free of H'tsu, losing that part of his soul was still losing a part of himself, and a huge chunk of his power; something he could not afford to do with his dangerous life style.

Ichigo sighed and turned his attention to Grimmjow, who was currently sleeping soundly curled up around their egg. He was regaining his strength quickly now that the egg was laid and was starting to get a bit antsy, like a caged tiger.

"_Or panther,__"_ Ichigo thought with a small smile as he gazed at his mate.

The Arrancar had already expressed an interest in going hunting for himself, but had hinted that he didn't want to leave the egg unguarded. Even though Ichigo could draw on Zangetsu's power, and presumably H'tsu's as well, it was currently not _his_. There was no telling if, in a moment of need, that power might refuse his call. Ichigo completely understood Grimmjow's concern, and even agreed with it. Zangetsu agreed as well; in that usual silent way of his that somehow communicated his intent without speech.

Ichigo knew Grimmjow would be waking up soon and he turned his attention over to Zangetsu, who was leaning silently against a wall. The two of them shared a look and he just knew that Zangetsu understood his intent, and agreed with it. After Grimmjow woke up and had something to eat Ichigo would attempt to remerge with Zangetsu. If something bad happened at least Grimmjow would be awake and able to guard them, or possibly go for help if the Arrancar could bear to separate himself from their young long enough to get Kisuke.

Ichigo hoped nothing would good wrong, but with his luck he wasn't going to take any chances. Nothing was ever simple where he was concerned and if things could go to hell, well, history had already proved to him time and time again that there was a fair bet that it would. He wanted to make sure there was at least someone to pick up the pieces.

Grimmjow stirred in the nest, letting out one of those cute little mews he rarely did when he first woke up; a noise that Ichigo promised never to tell a soul about since he greatly valued his life. The sound did bring a soft smile to his lips before it turned into a smirk of appreciation as Grimmjow moved and stretched out just like a cat; arching his very impressive rear in the air before shifting his weight and bringing his shoulders and head up. He checked the egg first before finally turning his attention to Ichigo.

"You look determined about something," Grimmjow comment as he crawled out of the nest and rose to his feet, giving off another impressive stretch of his naked body.

"I want to try and remerge with Zangetsu, after you eat," he answered.

"You expecting something to go wrong?" Grimmjow questioned as he tore one of the taffy packets open and glared at the stuff as if it affronted him before taking a bite out of it.

"It's me," Ichigo pointed out with a scowl.

"Touché," Grimmjow agreed with a chuckle.

Ichigo joined him, opening one of the MRE's Kisuke had sent with him and they sat in companionable silence on the edge of the nest as they ate. Zangetsu approached him as soon as they were done eating and, with a sigh of resignation, Ichigo stood up to meet him.

"Everything had better work out alright, Kurosaki, because if you leave me to raise this cub alone I will seriously kick your ass," Grimmjow growled at him.

Ichigo offered him another smirk before turning his attention to Zangetsu.

"Ready Jii-san?" Ichigo questioned.

"No fear, no hesitation, no uncertainty," Zangetsu intoned.

Ichigo nodded his head, closed his eyes, and did his best to clear his mind. Once it was as clear as he could get it he searched for the red spirit ribbon he knew belonged to Zangetsu. It was easy to find. Grasping it solidly, he pulled it into himself, welcoming his soul home. When he opened his eyes Zangetsu was no longer standing before him and the comfortable feeling of his Shinigami powers once more coursed through his veins and his Shihakushō once more enveloped him.

"_Well done, Ichigo,__"_Zangetsu complimented, once more in his mind.

"Well that was, ah, easier than I thought it was going to be," Ichigo laughed.

"What, no weeks of coma, no screams of pain as if your soul was rending," Grimmjow frowned at him in mock disappointment.

"Maybe I am finally catching a break," Ichigo shrugged and sauntered back to the edge of the nest where Grimmjow was sitting.

"You look like shit in that thing, you should take it off before it affronts my hollow sensibilities," Grimmjow growled at him with a hint of promise.

Ichigo returned that grin, intending to do just that, when the memories Zangetsu had acquired during their separation slammed into him. He blinked and shook his head as the images flashed before his eyes, thankfully with very little emotion attached. Most of them resolved around himself and Grimmjow and he blushed as he witnessed their mating from an outsiders perspective (they really did look like wild animals going at it), but one image seared into his brain and took him completely with both shock and horror.

"What is it?" Grimmjow suddenly demanded sharply, a hint of worry in his tone.

All those images of Zangetsu's memories from their time apart and only one stood out in his minds eye. Szayel, whom he had thought H'tsu had killed shortly after their escape, bleeding, bruised, and clearly about to be raped.

Ichigo's mouth opened and closed in soundless horror a few times before he surged to his feet and stormed for the door.

"Kurosaki?" Grimmjow snapped at him.

"I'll be right back." Ichigo promised "I need to find H'tsu," he added with a snarl that promised the meeting was not going to go well for the hollow half of his soul.

He at least maintained enough sense to pull Kisuke's reiatsu concealing cloak on as he stormed down the halls and back towards the laboratory. He was furious and sickened all at the same time. Half of the emotions were directed at his hollow, the other half at himself. He had been so _stupid_ as to have let H'tsu run free. He was well aware of the hollow's volatile nature and should have looked into what he was up to sooner instead of just being pleased that part of his soul had been separated from him.

"_And you knew this was going on!__"_he accused Zangetsu.

"_Hollows are hollows,__"_ Zangetsu answered. _"__It is in their nature to mate with another they can not bring themselves to kill.__"_

"_That didn__'__t look anything like mating, that looked like bloody raping,__"_ Ichigo snarled back before the rest of Zangetsu's sentence register in his mind.

Now truly worried, he ceased marching in anger and launched himself into a desperate shunpo, which brought him to the lab in no time. H'tsu had apparently anticipated his arrival, for his hollow half meet him at the beginning of the corridor, a determined look in his golden eyes.

"**Hello King. How nice of you to check up on me,****"**H'tsu greeted him with a smirk.

Ichigo was too furious to bother getting into banter with his hollow half and simply drew his blade before rushing forward. H'tsu was actually taken by surprise and barely had time to summon and bring his own blade up to block the strike, and the dozen that quickly followed it.

Ichigo knew talking was a waste of time with H'tsu, force was all the hollow seemed to understand. H'tsu crowed in delight as sparks flew between them as their blades met.

"**There you are King,****"**H'tsu cried happily. **"****Are you here to put me back on all fours, or is this just a pleasant exchange,****"** H'tsu taunted.

"You are returning to where you belong so you can't do anymore bloody damage to anyone," Ichigo snarled out.

"**An unfortunate necessity,****"**H'tsu growled his own displeasure at the thought of remerging.

No doubt the hollow had also been feeling the weakening of their souls and understood remerging was the only option before the three souls were permanently split. There was no telling what would happen after that. Would they be three separate beings or would they all drift away into nothingness?

Ichigo and H'tsu exchanged more strikes before he finally pinned the hollow to a wall, blade at the throat. H'tsu looked annoyed for a moment before chuckling and given his head a shake.

"**Alright King, I will return, but only if you promise to take good care of my pet and let me out once in a while to play with him,****"**H'tsu purred.

Ichigo's eyes darted down the corridor to the only door that was ajar, no doubt the door that H'tsu had come from. His reiatsu sensing abilities were never the greatest, but he could sense the very weak reiatsu coming from that room simply because it had H'tsu's markers all over, and H'tsu was a part of him.

He dropped H'tsu and jumped into a shunpo, landing him at the door and kicked it open the rest of the way. The image that met his eyes was far worse than the one from Zangetsu's memories.

Blood, sweat and cum was practically layered onto the abused Arrancar like a second skin and there were a myriad of lacerations, bite marks, and bruises, all in various states of healing from old to having been recently acquired, covering the clearly malnourished body. The once lustrous pink hair was matted, limp, full of split ends, and lacked any form of healthy shine. Golden eyes, with so much fear in them Ichigo swore they would haunt his dreams for a very long time, flashed up to look at him before quickly dropping. Worse of all, Ichigo could feel and see the reiatsu forming inside the broken former Espada. H'tsu had managed to mate with him and Szayel's reiatsu levels were dangerously low.

Any hope he'd had of simply letting the Arrancar heal up, treating his wounds and leaving him in peace went completely out the window. He had never, ever, guessed that H'tsu was actually capable of breeding, or that he would.

"**He****'****s a pretty pet, isn****'****t he,****"**H'tsu purred at him as the hollow came up beside him.

Ichigo was too furious to answer and simply grabbed onto the thread that belonged to H'tsu and violently pulled him back into his own body. H'tsu cursed and swore at him in his mind but he slammed up an impressive mental block formed from his own fury.

"_Ichigo,__"_Zangetsu called him softly.

"_You could have helped me stop this before it went too far,__"_Ichigo snapped at his Zanpakuto, but didn't block him off yet.

Szayel was cowering in the corner now, body shaking like a leaf as if he honestly expected Ichigo to march in there and pick up where H'tsu had left off. Truthfully, all Ichigo wanted to do was go back into the corridor and throw up. He'd seen some pretty shocking things helping his father out at the Family Clinic when they were overrun, but he had never seen anything this bad, not even in the worse gang or domestic abuse cases. Any lingering anger he'd had at the hollow cowering before him was blown out of the water.

"_Calm down,__"_ he told himself firmly. _"__Getting angry is not going to change anything that happened,__"_ he reaffirmed.

Ichigo began using a breathing technical his father had taunt him when he was younger (about the only useful thing goat face had ever taught him) to help clear his mind so he could _rationally_ deal with the problem. He banked most of his anger for now into simmering coals, which he fully planned on rekindling once he was alone with H'tsu, and let calm forward.

He'd dealt with terrified children in the Clinic many times, (be they there for their own injuries or because their parents were injured) because for some reason children always seemed to warm up to him and he could calm them down. He used that knowledge and innate ability now, even though his current target was not a child.

He was about to start his approach when H'tsu's memories suddenly slammed into him like Zangetsu's had and, unlike his Zanpakuto, his hollows were hardly innocent. He almost staggered as the full brunt of literally _days_ worth of torture and rape tore into his mind. He actually blacked out for a moment and felt suddenly very ill to his stomach. He damn near threw up right there but, somehow, managed to hold it in; although it left a foul taste of bile at the back of his throat.

That any part of him could do such a thing to another! He felt sudden empathy for the hollow, not just because of the violence that had been done upon him, (a violence Ichigo could have prevented if he hadn't been so wrapped up in his own little world) but because by H'tsu own violent nature he'd forced not one, but _two_ miscarriages upon his Beta. Ichigo knew how devastating one miscarriage could be on account of working in the Clinic, but he had no idea how anyone could emotionally handle two with the second not even three days after the first. No wonder the former Espada was so broken, emotionally and physically.

"_First things first, get him cleaned up, healed, and bloody well fed,__"_Ichigo thought determinedly. _"__That should help set his feet on the path for recovery.__"_

Once he was damn sure he had all his emotions in check one more, he approached the Arrancar slowly.

"Can you walk?" he asked softly.

Golden eyes stared up at him in confusion at the question before a soft nod was given in answer.

"I am going to take you back to my den, you know where it is right?"

Another soft nod and he wondered if H'tsu hadn't somehow damaged Szayel's vocal cords. He distinctly recalled Szayel having a real problem with talking too much; and oddly enough recalled Ishida had complained about the same thing.

"Do you think you can make it that far?"

Szayel's head cocked to the side and for the first time Ichigo saw a flash of intelligence overcome the fear as the Arrancar was finally permitted to use his Intelligence to ponder the answer.

"I don't know," Szayel whispered in a very meek and broken voice that raised the hairs all over Ichigo's body.

"I can carry you the rest of the way if need be, I would now but I can tell you have not had much chance to use any of your muscles lately and the exercise is sorely needed," Ichigo explained when, in truth, he was actually more worried that his very touch would send Szayel into a fit.

Walking would also be good in that it would permit Szayel some time to adjust to his presence and the change in his routine, a routine that H'tsu had literally beaten into him. Once more he felt bile rise up at the back of his throat at the memories that H'tsu had bestowed upon him before forcing it back down.

Ichigo peeled off the reiatsu suppressing cloak before taking his kosodo off and handing it over. Szayel stared at it in confusion for a moment before slowly accepting the clothing and gingerly, due to his numerous injuries, pulled it over his body. It helped a bit to curb Ichigo's anger now that most of the abuse was hidden.

He stepped back to give Szayel room to stand up and his eyes fell upon a book and two pens that were resting on the small, padded table. Curious, he picked the book up and flipped through several of the pages in the middle. They were written mostly like a science report and several of the pages were stained with blood and water marks.

"_A scientific journal slash diary,__"_he realized surprised as the memory of H'tsu giving it to his victim came forward.

Szayel had once more frozen on his way off of the slab that served as his bed and his eyes stared at the book desperately. Ichigo noticed and closed the book before handing it over. Szayel grabbed it and clutched it to his chest like any child would their favourite stuffed animal; like it was the only life line keeping him sane.

"Come on. Once we make it back to the den you can get something to eat," memories of just how H'tsu expected Szayel to _feed_ flashed through his mind, "real food," he amended, "and cleaned up."

The prospect of both seemed to add a bit of light to those fearful golden eyes. With a sigh, Ichigo led the way back to the den he shared with Grimmjow, forcing himself to keep the pace slow so the malnourished and injured Arrancar following him could keep up. At least the walk let him know that most of the damage was to the outer layer and Szayel showed no signs of broken bones or injured ligaments, although he did walk as if his back was sore but Ichigo was fairly positive he knew why and it had _nothing_ to do with a back injury.

They had just made it back to the door, Szayel waning in physical strength but clearly starting to gain in mental, when a sudden thought entered Ichigo's mind: just what the hell is Grimmjow going to think, and do or say, about this when he walked into their den with another Arrancar behind him? One that had clearly been impregnated by a portion of his own soul.

"_I knew remerging had gone too damn smoothly, and why does this kind of crap always happen to me?"_


	20. Full House

Welcome Home Blackstorm! And what better welcome home gift than a new chapter? I wish this one could have been full of shameless smut, but alas plot and drama are regrettably required for a good story.

If you want to know what H'tsu did to Szayel, why the former Espada is so broken, you can find out by reading Breaking a Butterfly, a short, 4 chapter story on Adultfan only. It is fairly violent and not for the faint of heart. The last chapter of that ties into the first chapter of this. If you like seeing Szayel tortured, or just like seeing Ichigo's hollow being a vindictive bastard, I would recommend you check it out: bleach. adultfanfiction. net/ index. php. Please recall that the site has an 18+ restriction.

* * *

><p>Full House<p>

Ichigo ran out the door as if the hounds of hell were on his heels, leaving Grimmjow to blink after him in surprise. He checked his body over first to make sure there wasn't something wrong with it that had turned his Alpha off. Assured that he was still the spitting image of perfect glory that no creature would ever want to turn down, he shrugged and returned to the nest to curl up around the egg.

He could feel the vibrant life thrumming from inside the shell and, to his pleasure, the egg rocked softly as the young inside moved. Soon the cub would hatch and he would get to gaze upon his first successful offspring. He felt warmth, and an excessive amount of pride, swell up in his chest.

He couldn't wait to see what it would look like, to teach it how to hunt on the desert sand under a crescent moon hung in a black, starless sky that stretched on endlessly. And to think it was Kurosaki, of all unlikely creatures, that brought him to this moment.

"Just fifteen more days," he purred to the egg.

He dozed lightly for a bit until he felt Ichigo returning. No, not Ichigo, his reiatsu was covered by the cloak anyhow, but someone with familiar markers and a familiar feel was approaching his door. Someone who was so weak that Grimmjow almost didn't even notice them coming.

"A wounded Adjucus seeking shelter perhaps," he mused, intrigued by the possibility of a free meal.

This level of reiatsu was no threat to him, not even when he had been at his weakest. It was clearly hollow and familiar, but it felt strange. The door opened and Ichigo stepped hesitantly in before the second person stepped in.

Anger was his first instant emotion, followed quickly by shock and confusion. How dare Ichigo bring another to their den, and one that was clearly mated? At first his anger was at Ichigo, for the reiatsu cluster forming inside of the only other known surviving Espada tasted strongly of the teen. How dare the bastard mate again? But as quickly as his anger rose his confusion quickly overran it as his eyes truly took in the sight of the cowering, yes cowering like a whipped dog, sight of the pink haired Arrancar.

Ichigo was a demon in bed, he knew that first handed, but not _that_ much of a demon. Szayel looked like he had been horrendously tortured and what parts of him Grimmjow could see through the one piece of Ichigo's clothing Szayel clutched to his body spoke of days, if not weeks, of torment. Ichigo would not have had the time to inflict such damage. More so the reiatsu cluster growing might have at first felt like Ichigo, but it was off slightly, although still familiar; H'tsu. Ichigo's fucking hollow had mated the pathetic scientist.

"Nothing is ever easy with you, is it?" Grimmjow growled in annoyance.

"I wish," Ichigo sighed.

His first instinct was to chase the intruder out and defend his place with his Alpha, but Szayel's Alpha was technically not Ichigo. If this was a true pack with H'tsu and Zangetsu in their own bodies than there would be nothing wrong with H'tsu taking a mate. Such social things kept his first impulse to kill the intruder down long enough for the rest of his instincts to kick in.

Szayel was no threat to him or his place as the Alpha's mate. Ichigo clearly had no sexual interest in the newcomer and was clearly only interested in watching over a member of the pack. Technically, H'tsu could have returned with his pet to the den at anytime and Grimmjow now sort of wished he had. It would have made his Instincts have an easier time accepting the situation.

"_If H__'__tsu had brought that thing back and treated it the way Szayel has clearly been treated in front of Ichigo, he would have had one hell of a conniption fit. No wonder H__'__tsu stayed away.__"_

Now that his initial reaction to the intruder was dealt with, he found himself disgusted at H'tsu's treatment of his Beta. An Alpha had the right to do what it wanted to its Beta, but beating a mated creature that much was just plain stupid and practically begging for a miscarriage. Granted, he never credited H'tsu with any form of intelligence and he found that he was not that shocked to see what H'tsu had done to his Beta.

"Since I know I can't talk you into tossing him out like the trash he is, even though he sorely deserves it, he can nest in the far corner, but if he comes near our nest or cub I will kill him," Grimmjow declared with a growl, pleased that Szayel flinched at his tone and gave a very soft, meek nod of his head.

"Fair enough," Ichigo agreed with a soft sigh of relief.

Clearly the teen had been ready for an argument, and Grimmjow sorely wanted to give him one and remind him that this was the creature that had caged them and tore Ichigo's soul apart. Szayel got exactly what he deserved and Grimmjow had no pity for him whatsoever. If he could not appease his Alpha than that was his problem.

"The bathroom is through there, you should clean up," Ichigo said softly.

Sazyel slinked along the wall like a terrified mouse to reach the bathroom and Grimmjow frowned in confusion. It had only been fifteen days, what on earth had H'tsu managed to do in such a short amount of time that had him acting like the most pathetic Omega Grimmjow had ever seen?

He had been expecting respect, a meeker behaviour of course, but Szayel was acting like nothing he had ever seen another creature act like before. He turned his attention to Ichigo, who had walked over to him.

"There won't be a problem with him staying with us long enough to lay and recover?" Ichigo asked. "I don't want to create any problems if they can be avoided."

"There would have been if _you_ had mated him, I would have killed him the moment he walked through the fucking door, but no. As long as he stays over in the corner and keeps his mouth shut like a good little Omega, there won't be any problems, at least not from me," he promised reluctantly.

From the angle of the nest he could see perfectly into the bathroom and his frown deepened as Szayel let Ichigo's kosodo drop to the ground to fully reveal his torn up body. It looked like he hadn't been cleaned in days. There was so much blood, sweat and cum caked onto his skin, most noticeably around his thighs, that Grimmjow was honestly surprised. He even had fresh laceration marks that couldn't be more than an hour old that were obviously still bleeding.

"Did H'tsu even let him clean himself?" he grunted in disgust.

"No, he, damn it I have his bloody memories and what he did is making me sick. I don't know how any part of me could be that sadistic," Ichigo cried softly in frustration.

"Just so long as he is gone in 45 days," he grunted.

"Fifty five,"" Ichigo corrected.

Grimmjow snapped a glare at his Alpha, ready to tell him that it was 45 regardless of what kind of shape the cub was in when it hatched, but Ichigo spoke before he could, effectively silencing him.

"He miscarried, twice. H'tsu…. hurt him too much,"

He felt coldness run through his body and his gaze snapped once more to the broken Arrancar who was trying to fill the tub up with water, and was having a hard time bending over to reach the taps thanks to the damage done to his body. It suddenly made sense now as to why Sazyel was so defeated. Grimmjow recalled his own pain at losing his young when his old mates had failed. He could not imagine how much more terrible it would be to have been the one to have the actual miscarry, to have felt that budding, living reiatsu inside of him dwindle, die and be expelled.

"He looks about ready to fall on his face," Grimmjow grunted.

Ichigo turned his attention away from whatever dark, brooding thoughts were going through his head to look into the bathroom where it was becoming apparent that Szayel was not going to be able to clean himself, assuming he could even get into the tub, in his current condition.

"I should help him. Most of this is my fault anyway," Ichigo sighed as he made his way over to the bathroom.

Grimmjow snorted and turned his attention away from the bathroom. He didn't enjoy watching Ichigo pay attention to the other Arrancar and tried to find something to distract himself with before his jealousy, not that he would ever admit to being jealous, overwhelmed him and he did something about it that would, no doubt, upset Ichigo.

"_Bloody Shinigami is making me soft,__"_he grunted in displeasure, standing up and stretching.

He had absolutely no problems walking about naked, but Aizen had bestowed a sense of propriety in his Arrancar and walking naked through the halls had been prohibited. He hadn't worn clothes in some time, not including the few minutes he had worn the lose robe Szayel had tossed him during his meeting with Ichigo, and had to dig through the bags to find something.

He pulled out the spring yukuta he had borrowed from Ichigo and pulled it on, tying the belt up. He really had no desire to wear his old uniform hanging in the closet. With one last look at his egg to assure himself it was safe, very safe with Ichigo back up to full, toe tingling power, he pulled open the door and walked out into the hallway.

He didn't have far to travel to reach the next room, all of his fraccion had had rooms next to his and he knew exactly which room he wanted. It would be fitting after all and brought a bit of a vindictive smirk to his face. He opened the door and looked around with a scowl. He may have been an amazing fighter and there may have been no love lost between them, but Szayel and Yylfodt had more in common than either would ever dream to admit, a strong case of narcissism being one of them.

Despite not having been in use for some time everything was still in its proper place and 100% organized. He went straight for the bed, a western style type as opposed to his preferred nest, and pulled the blankets and pillows off of it. He grabbed a spare uniform, which brought that vindictive smirk back because he just knew Szayel was not going to be happy wearing his brothers clothing. The curtains and their rods were the last thing to be pulled down; mounts, screws and all.

He knew Ichigo and, more importantly, knew the teen would not be interested in sex at all if someone else was in the room watching them. There was no way in hell Grimmjow was going fifty five fucking days without sex just because Szayel was too pathetic to hold off Ichigo's hollow and got mated by him.

Hauling the stuff back to his room he deposited the blankets and pillows in the furthest corner away from his own nest and pounded the curtain holders into the ceiling, effectively creating a **very** small little cubby.

"More than the bastard deserves, but I sure as hell don't want to have to stare at him and I definitely am not giving up sex."

He shivered at the memory of that warm mouth wrapped around a rather intimate part of his body. He would definitely not be opposed to more of that. The reality had been far, _Far_, **FAR** greater than his original fantasy had been. Satisfied, Szayel could set his own nest up and should be thankful he was getting more than the cold floor in the first place like he deserved, Grimmjow returned to his own nest, checked on the egg, and turned his attention to the bathroom.

He hadn't been gone long at all and it looked like Ichigo had just managed to get Szayel into the tub. He frowned at the blood splatters on his bathroom floor and noted the trail that lead from the door to said bathroom.

"Before he gets to nest he is cleaning that fucking mess up first," he growled softly.

(POV)

Szayel was in far worse shape than Ichigo had initially realized. He hadn't really gotten a look at his back before it had been covered so he hadn't realized just how extensive the damage was. He also hadn't noticed how Szayel was favouring his left hand until he watched the Arrancar attempt to get into the tub with only one hand while cradling the other.

"Here, let me help," Ichigo offered softly, as if speaking to a frightened animal.

Szayel startled to at his voice, truly brining the 'startled animal' bit to life. Once more fearful gold raced up to look at him before the gaze was one more dropped to the side. Still Szayel never argued as Ichigo helped him into the tub and handed him a cloth.

He moved about the bathroom until he found something that could be used as a stool and was pleased to noted Szayel was already desperately scrubbing away at his body.

"So, will this be your first cub?" Ichigo questioned after several minutes, the uncomfortable silence was getting to him and he was honestly curious. If Grimmjow had tried to mate as an Adjucus than surely Szayel did as well.

There was more to the question as well. The best way to break someone out of a reclusive shell was to get them talking. Even though he had all of H'tsu's memories he still didn't quite know everything H'tsu had done to his victim. It was kind of like looking through another's eyes so that everything H'tsu did 'off camera' Ichigo didn't see or know about. He would need Szayel to relax a bit before bringing him around to list his injuries, for the memory of how those injuries came about would come with the list.

"Yes," Szayel answered in that soft, meek and broken voice of his that sounded nothing like the taunting bastard he'd been just over two weeks ago.

"Oh. So you have never mated before huh?"

Szayel gave a soft shake of his head and he paused in cleaning the blood and wounds on his left arm.

"I was mated once before, when I was a fresh Adjucus," he admitted.

"Fresh hmm?" Ichigo questioned, trying to push the conversation, for what it was, on.

"Yes." Sazyel resumed washing himself.

Ichigo continued to work on his back since it was impossible for Szayel to reach that part of himself with his wounds. It was also both a very 'safe' zone and a comforting gesture. He was not as skilled as Yuzu was at getting people to relax and talk, but he did know some tricks and let the room stay in silence for a moment. Sure enough, Szayel once more picked up the conversation.

"It was shortly after evolving, very shortly actually. Unlike 99% of the hollow population, I retained my sense of being from the first stage up. I actually spent a fair amount of time in the laboratory I died in just studying before the need to feed on real food came to me and I returned to Hueco Mundo where I once again studied, this time the denizens.

"It was through this studying I learned of how evolution worked. I never hungered much, but I knew the need to evolve was important so a found a group and waited on the edge until the ninety-ninth was wounded, and I became the one hundredth. My superior intellect made sure I was on top of the mind pile," Szayel actually gave a faint smile at that before it faded.

"The next level was easy enough to get through. Gillian are notoriously stupid and easy to feed upon, almost like grazing," he gave a soft snort.

A thousand responses came to Ichigo's mind at that comment, but he held them back. His ploy was working and Szayel was speaking with a bit stronger voice, although it maintained its meekness.

"It didn't take long after that to hit Adjucus level. Unlike others though my first instinct, oddly enough, wasn't to feed. I was no where near as strong as even a typically evolved Adjucus and I thought at the time it was a side effect of maintaining my Intelligence. I had to use cunning to take down my prey as strength was not in my arsenal, nor did I have much in the way of natural weapons. Still, my evolution was slow as prey was hard to come by for someone of my strength. Intriguingly enough, my Instinct knew what we needed and I started looking for a strong hollow to attach myself to."

This time he gave off a real smile, although it was one that spoke of pain.

"Apparently he had been watching me for some time and knew what I was, even though I didn't at the time. He was so powerful, a very high level Adjucus who was clearly rather old, a rarity among the breed. I was not sure what to expect when he confronted me, although being devoured was on the top of my expected list he didn't seem hungry. Instead, we actually held a rather intelligent conversation, near the end of which he simply informed me I passed muster and we were going to Mate. Oddly enough that didn't offend me,"

"Wait a minute," Ichigo interrupted. "I remember Grimmjow telling me a bit about Mating. He said if a Beta was so much weaker than the Alpha than the result was death to the Beta, yet you are telling me this creature was leagues ahead of you. How did that work?" Ichigo question confused.

"Because of what I am," Szayel answered softly.

Ichigo waited impatiently for Szayel to explain what he meant and had to hold back the urge to demand an answer right away.

"Apparently others of my kind do exist, but they are exceedingly rare as they are very easy prey for fresh Adjucus, whose only thought is to feed and get stronger. More intelligent thought processes and advanced _feelings_ do not come into play until they have fed and strengthened themselves."

The conversation shifted for a moment as they drained the now dirty bathwater and filled the tub again with fresh, clean water. Already a healthy color was returning to Szayel's skin and he was looking much more like a living creature and less like a corpse warmed over.

"So, how are you are different from others?" Ichigo prompted the conversation to resume, honestly curious.

"Beside my far superior intellect, I am also a Naturally Born Beta, capable of breeding with damn near anything since my body can handle higher levels of pressure, a skill I have utilized many times over the years. It unnerves many would be opponents and makes them believe I am stronger than I actually am since I can take the full brunt of their reitasu barrage."

Ichigo blinked in surprise and mouth the title over again, almost missing the rest of what Szayel had said.

"A Naturally Born Beta? So… you will never be an Alpha?"

"No," Szayel smiled bitterly, "but it still means an Alpha will need to be able to subdue me to mate, it does not mean I will raise my tail for just anyone and I have no problems putting troublesome idiots in their place."

"I see. Anyhow, this Adjucus simply told you that you were going to mate, than what?" Ichigo questioned, cursing his curiosity. "And did he have a name?"

"No name he ever gave me. I simply referred to him as Alpha-sama. We mated, I really wasn't going to argue with someone who was worlds stronger than I was. Unfortunately, he was too strong for me to handle yet and the 'pregnancy' terminated after a few days. He was disappointed, but neither one of us were honestly that surprised. As I said, he was surprisingly intelligent.

"He left after that, gave his permission for me to remain in his territory and took off. I returned to hunting and growing stronger however I could for several years. Being on his lands gave me some protection since the stronger hollows that intruded upon it quickly became his prey and were thus very rare to stumble across. The weaker ones that were perfect for my meals were pretty much useless for him to eat at his level, so we never really crossed feeding turfs.

"When I was stronger he simply appeared before me again and stated we would try mating again. This time I was able to withstand his reiatsu and I was introduced to his den where I stayed until after the egg was laid."

Szayel stopped talking and was staring at the water. Ichigo sensed that something terrible must have happened next, after all Szayel said he'd never had young.

"I think I know how this is going to end," he said softly, letting Szayel know he didn't need to tell the rest.

"When he was out hunting he came across a group of Shinigami, strong ones. Even though he defeated them he was left horribly wounded but he managed to crawl back to the den, but in doing so he left a trail of blood any cub could follow. Grimmjow must have explained why the Beta feeds from the Alpha right?"

"He touched on it briefly, but he never really explained it other than to declare he would sooner die than feed that way."

"It's because bringing prey back to the den is foolhardy because the smell of it attracts attention, and a Beta, as you know, is free eats to others. Well, one of those stronger hollows traced his blood back so I did the only thing I could do. I buried the egg, hoped it wouldn't be discovered, and ran before I could be devoured."

"What about your Alpha?"

"He had died the day before from his wounds. I wanted to go back for the egg, but the new hollow set up in the den and I didn't dare. Even if the egg went undiscovered, as soon as the cub hatched the bastard would have sensed it, and killed it."

"So you just left and wandered."

"Yes, until I stumbled across my brother and his group. I stayed with them for a while but they were clearly only interested in eating and growing stronger and I sensed no one was interested in mating, not to mention the conversations were less than stimulating, so I left shortly after. I was honestly expecting a few of them to turn on me at any minute, even though I was confident by that point I could take half of them on. I wandered about until Aizen came along and starting turning us into Arrancar."

Ichgio felt the story was over, and the tub was once more full of filthy water so they drained it again.

"Hold on a second before we refill it. Can you lean back a bit so your head is under the tap and we can wash your hair out? I think that might work better than you going under."

Sazyel gave a nod of his head and silence settled over them as Ichigo washed out the pink strands, it took an entire bottle of shampoo and half a bottle of condition to get it all cleaned up and untangled before they filled the tub up for a third time. Szayel remained still while Ichigo tended his right arm since his left hand seemed to be weakened, which let him bring up the question he had been working towards.

He felt Szayel was more comfortable with him and he was definitely looking less like a frightened animal and more like a tired out one that just wanted to curl up and sleep for a week.

"I need to know how bad your injuries are, and what H'tsu did to you," he said softly.

Szayel stiffened and his gaze turned off to the side, but he did answer in a very soft, monotonous voice as if repeating a recipe.

"My body is covered in various lacerations at multiple levels of repair; from fresh to scars. Several have become infected. Bite marks cover most of my neck and shoulders, also in various states of repair with several having become infected. I have several bruises, mostly to the hips and face, all healing. There are several sets of punctures on my hips, which have mostly healed with one fresh set, once again a few are infected. There is internal, anal tearing and bleeding, how badly I am uncertain but judging by the pain and amount of blood I would say at least a moderate to moderately high amount of damage. My left hand has been broken, twice. I tried to set the bones the best I could, but it's hard to do one handed and I lacked materials for a brace of any sort."

Ichigo sucked in a breath at the report, and it hitched on the news of a twice broken wrist.

"Let's tend to your wrist first. I might have to re-break it to set the bones right and the longer it sits the more likely it may heal wrong."

Sazyel gave a nod of his head and handed his wrist over. It was bruised up and Ichigo hesitated before taking that hand into his own, palpitating the area and feeling along for any signs of displacement.

Szayel hissed in pain, but didn't try to take his hand back. Ichigo had to give it to him, the Arrancar truly had a high pain thresh hold.

"It's hard to tell without an X-ray, but I know these two bones need to be realigned." He tried to announce it looking Sazyel in the eye, but once more the scientist was looking away and down in very a submissive pose. "I can reset them, but it's going to hurt like a bitch. Afterwards we got materials here to bind them."

A meek nod of the head was the only response he got. Szayel had once more gone silent, meek, and broken on him. Ichigo held back a sigh of frustration and turned his attention back to his patient.

There was an audible snap as he broke the two disjoined bones, which pulled a sharp whimper of pain from his patient. He moved them into the right position before reaching for the first aid kit they had brought with them, stored in the bathroom where all first aid kits tended to be stored, and pulled out what he needed to splint the damaged wrist.

"I got some Aspirin, it's a human pain killer, if you think it might work for a hollow," he offered.

"It won't work on us," Sazyel answered, once more using the meek, broken voice. "Our system is too strong for it."

"I see. Well, let's drain this water, your about as clean as soap, hot water, and two hours of scrubbing can get you. There is nothing I can do about the internal bleeding and injuries other than to promise they will be given time to heal. We can bind up these lacerations, bites and punctures and I got some alcoholic swabs we can use to treat the infected injuries. They do not look too bad right now, but we should keep an eye on them in case they get dangerously worse. The bath opened a lot of those wounds and let them bleed out so that should help."

Another soft nod of the head was the only response he got.

The tub was drained, the infected wounds treated and the lacerations, bites and punctures wrapped up. By the time they were done Szayel was doing a very good impression of an Egyptian mummy and they were running out of gauze.

Ichigo was surprised to see the certain offed area once they emerged, and more surprise to see that there was some bedding, a change of clothing, and several packets of food waiting within. He looked over to Grimmjow in surprise.

"I don't want to have to stare at his ugly face all day," the blue haired Arrancar grunted at his question look. "Now leave that bastard to his own devices and come here. You have spent enough time with him."

"Are we getting jealous Grimmjow?" Ichigo couldn't help but to tease with a smirk.

"Of that weak ass bitch, hardly," Grimmjow rolled his eyes.

Ichigo chuckled, but Szayel seemed capable of bedding down himself and he turned to leave before a soft cry of dismay caught his attention.

"What is it?" Ichigo questioned concerned.

"My book."

"I'll get it, You rest, eat, and be quite, preferably by sleeping, so his royal assness doesn't get anymore bitchy."

"I heard that!" Grimmjow growled.

Ichigo chuckled, retrieved the book and pens as promised, and dropped them off before curling up behind Grimmjow, who was pretending to ignore him. Ichigo did feel guilty for spending most of the day on other business. He softly stroked his Beta's side before moving his hand lower and to the south.

Grimmjow growled but made no move to pull away or snap at him. Ichigo held back a chuckle and used his mouth to tickle several of the Arrancar's sweet spots. He knew he had to deal with H'tsu, but right now, as far as he was concerned, there was a different hollow that needed his undivided attention and he was suddenly very pleased that those curtains were up. This show didn't need any more of an audience than it already had.

* * *

><p>Poor Ichigo, now he has to balance his attention between his guilt for what H'tsu did to Szayel and keeping his own Beta from becoming jealous. Yep, fun times ahead and you can bet that Grimmjow won't let Szayel forget just what his place in the pack is.<p>

Stay tuned for the next chapter; Where Ichigo and Grimmjow get into their first marital fight (which we all know is really just an excuse for the author to write shameless make up sex in the next chapter over)

Oh right, I am backing up and wiping my computer, which could take a few days to get everything set up again, so don't panic if the next update is late


	21. Settled In

Settled In

Sleep was what he desperately needed, and after that two hour bath and a decent amount of food his body was truly ready to rest. Unfortunately his mind was reeling too much to slumber just yet. The last thing he had expected to happen during his ritualistic, afternoon, violent mating was to be rescued by the pack's Alpha, be permitted to clean himself up, have his injuries tended to, be permitted to eat a decent amount of food and, most shocking of all, actually be given a real nest inside of the Alpha pair's den!

His book rested beside him and he picked it up, flipping open to the next page for his daily entry. It was the first page in many that didn't have blood or tear stains on it. He wrote the Scientific entry in first before adding his own personal feelings and observations at the end of the report.

He closed the book when he was done and sighed, his attention being drawn to the very obvious noises coming from the other side of the curtain. A glance through the crack where the two separate curtains met confirmed what his ears were telling him.

Ichigo was making certain that Grimmjow would not be feeling any form of jealousy by paying extra special attention to his Beta. Said Beta was whimpering, writhing and moaning in pleasure under his Alpha's shocking ministrations.

Szayel could only stare stunned as Ichigo worked his beta's arousal with his mouth, bobbing his head up and down the shaft and being rewarded with little mews of pleasure as Grimmjow squirmed beneath him. Szayel had never, _ever_ heard of an Alpha degrading itself to the point of what Ichigo was doing now and it took a moment for his brain, and Instinct, to register what they were witnessing.

Grimmjow may have his jealousy appeased now, (how could he not being treated so royally by his Alpha?) but it reared up in Szayel as he watched the couple. H'tsu had shown him no apathy, let alone passion, and had made sure that every mating had been deliberately painful. He would have comfortably settled for indifference, like his first Alpha had shown him, but he had not been so fortunate. He could even understand the pain H'tsu had put him through at the beginning, hollows were malevolent creatures after all and he had crossed his Alpha's path before hand. H'tsu had never gotten over that anger, or he simply enjoyed being a vindictive bastard, and every mating had been conducted in pain and ended in an unnecessary amount of blood right up until Ichigo's shocking interference. Szayel had honestly been starting to wonder if H'tsu ever planned on actually letting him carry to term or if 'fucking him to death,' as the hollow had threatened to do on multiple occasions, had been his real intent all along.

Szayel forced himself to tear his eyes away from the sight of the pack's Alpha pair mating and returned to curl up in his meagre nest. The scent all over the blankets, very faint due to the passage to time but still perceivable, was both a comfort and digesting. Trust Grimmjow to torture him by forcing him to rest in and wear, as the clothing left for him was also very recognizable, his older brother's stuff. He refused to put the clothing on, wasn't even sure he could get half of it on with his injuries even though they were treated now, and simple curled up between the wall and pillows, pulling the top blanket over his body.

His mind was still in turmoil and the sounds of sex and pleasure coming from the main nest didn't help any, but the warmth and comfort of his new nest, combined with his brutally exhausted body, finally pulled him down into a rather peaceful slumber. It was the first he got to enjoy in just over two weeks.

(POV)

Ichigo had, honest to Kami, expected there to be problems between the two Arrancar from the get go, but after four days nothing had gone wrong… yet. Szayel pretty much stayed curled up in his nest in the corner and remained completely silent. The only noise coming from the other side of the curtains was either the sound of pen on paper as he wrote in his book or the odd whimper of pain when he put too much weight on one of his injuries.

With Ichigo once more at full strength and Grimmjow mostly recovered from the mating and laying, the blue haired former Esapda finally felt confident enough to leave the nest to go hunting for himself. Ichigo had a feeling that being able to hunt and work out any frustration upon his helpless prey was one of the reasons they hadn't had an issue yet. Then there was the fact he made sure to give his mate extra attention every night that left his own toes curling as much as Grimmjow's. Lastly, and most shocking, was Szayel's surprisingly good behaviour, as he made sure to obey Grimmjow's command to stay quite and unseen to the letter.

"_**He knows better than to act out,**__**"**_H'tsu sniffed in his mind. _**"**__**Unlike you, I trained my pet well,**__**"**_ he added with a voice full of pride.

Ah yes, because nothing in his life could possibly be perfect for one moment. He had mostly been ignoring H'tsu the best he could, mentally blocking him out and refusing to acknowledge him, but it was getting harder.

H'tsu had been silent for the first two days, either that or Ichiog had actually managed to block him out completely in his rage, but after that the hollow began to pester him to let him out to play with his pet. Only Zangetsu's calming influence had prevented Ichigo from going into his inner world and flaying the hollow alive like he really, really wanted to. He was not accustomed to feeling such anger and disgust, the last person he had felt enraged at had been Aizen, and it took him by surprise.

He heard the curtains shift and glanced up to see Szayel slowly emerging from his corner. The only time the other Arrancar dared to emerge at all was if he was ordered to or when Grimmjow was gone.

"_Four days, and he still acts like his own shadow is going to jump him,__"_Ichigo noted, although he wasn't altogether surprised. Abuse victims often took a long time to recover their confidence and the stuff H'tsu had put him through was far more aggressive than most abuse victims ever suffered.

Most of the lacerations had closed up, but with so little reiatsu to call upon Ichigo had no doubt that they would scar. Most of the bruises had faded as well but the broken hand was still splinted and healing very, very slowly. Bones took a long time to knit and with no reiatsu to spare to heal them they were going to take some time, maybe even as long as it took a human.

"I would like to bathe," Szayel requested softly, so softly that Ichigo almost didn't even hear the request.

"Go for it," Ichigo waved towards the bathroom. "And Szayel,"

The scientist was about to take a step and froze at being addressed.

"you don't need to ask permission to bathe," Ichigo offered him a soft smile.

Szayel gave a soft nod of his head in understanding and slunk along the wall, still like the frightened mouse he had first come across, before reaching the bathroom. The sound of running water reached Ichigo's ears and he turned his attention back to his brooding, an art he had long since mastered.

Grimmjow had left only ten minutes ago, which meant he had several hours to fret over his absent mate. He knew there were no Hollows out there that were a danger to them, but Kurotsuchi still had his camp on the other side of the massive, city size fortress. They had been lucky so far and he doubted Kurotsuchi would come this way since living quarters were truly of no scientific interest to the deranged man.

"_I need to find something to distract myself with,__"_ he groaned to himself.

"_**You could try my pet out. I am not stingy like you King,**__**"**_H'tsu offered. "_**And his markers need refreshing anyhow.**__**"**_

Ichigo snapped back a not so very polite response to his hollow's suggestion. The very idea of it made him sick, not to mention he would never betray his own mate. He wasn't sure if hollows worried about monogamy, but he was sure Grimmjow at least did, considering what his response to bringing Szayel home had been. Not that Ichigo planned on sleeping with anyone else ever again, but it was comforting to know that Grimmjow thought the same way.

"_You are behind on your studies,__"_Zangetsu suggested.

Ichigo's eyes fell on to the pile of neglected school work sitting on the coffee table. He had completely forgotten about school with everything that had been going on and he spat out a curse as he realized just how far behind he was.

"There is no way I am going to get all of that done in time," he groaned.

Checking on the egg first to make sure it was fine, and assured his young was as content as an egg could be, he moved over to the table and stared at the work incomprehensively. With every thing that had been going on he had completely forgotten what he had even been studying!

Grabbing the book closest to him he flipped it open, grabbed his assignment sheet, matched where he left off to the spot on the sheet, and furiously went to work. He had promised his teachers he would be back in just under two weeks, and he was now two weeks behind. He had an entire month's work of homework and cramming to do in just under eleven days.

"Your answer's wrong,"

Ichigo paused, not even sure he had heard a voice at all, until he looked up to see Szayel standing near by, eyes adverted and looking like he was ready to bolt at a moments notice.

"Huh?" Ichigo questioned intelligently.

"_**Hit him King, how dare he speak up!**__**"**_H'tsu snarled in his mind.

Ichigo ignored his hollow, he was getting good at that, and turned to look at his answer confused, trying to find what was wrong with it but not having much luck. Chemistry had never been his strong suit, or, more accurately, math. If he had known that chemistry had so much math in it he might have chosen a different elective. No matter how he looked at his answer though the numbers panned out.

"How is it wrong?" he questioned confused.

"The Atomic weight of Potassium is 39.0983, not 22.98976."

Ichigo blinked and flipped to the back of his text book to stare at the periodic table of elements every chemistry book came with. Sure enough, Szayel was right. In his rush to get though his work he had accidentally taken the weight of Sodium, which was the element above Potassium. Cursing softly, he erased his work and filled in the correct number and recalculated the answer, this time using the correct weight.

"Thanks, any more of these wrong?" he couldn't help but to question.

He took Szayel's silence, and the fact he was still hovering uncertainly as if he was indecisive over running or answering truthfully, as a loud yes.

"Dare I ask how many more are wrong?" he asked dryly.

"The answer to number four should be covalent, not ionic. An ionic bond is when one atom accepts or donates one or more of its valence electrons to another atom."

"Right, I am always getting those two mixed up for some stupid reason," he scowled as he erased his answer and changed it. "I must seem like quite the idiot to someone like you, huh?"

"This knowledge is fairly basic," Szayel answered with the faintest hint of a smile.

"Well, thinking has never been labelled as my strong suit," Ichigo shrugged.

It was nice to see a bit more life out of the otherwise ghost who had been haunting the corner of the den. In fact, he noticed the scientist seemed to be hesitating and was once more half turned as if uncertain if he should stay or go.

"If you would like," a pause and nervous lick of dry lips, "I could assist you with these," Szayel offered using that meek, broken voice of his that always slammed home Ichigo's feelings of guilt.

"I would be grateful."

(Dun Dun Dunnnnn)

Today was a good day. The taste of fresh blood in his mouth was a strong aphrodisiac indeed. He finished his meal with a sigh of content and turned his attention to the last corpse and contemplated eating or stashing it. This had been a pack of four, now one as only one of the fools had realized what they were facing and bolted. The other three had barely been sport.

He had consumed two of them but found the third relatively unappetising. He had never been a fan of the insect like hollows, they always tasted funny to him, but food was food and one could not afford to be picky, or at one time he couldn't. Now he could and he smirked as a sudden thought occurred to him.

"Stash it is," he grinned as he grabbed the corpse of his third prey and headed back to the den.

His good mood was instantly fouled the moment he walked through the door. Terrified golden eyes snapped in his direction from their place beside Ichigo and Grimmjow felt rage swell. Grimmjow had ordered the bastard to stay in his corner and yet here he was sitting beside HIS mate as if Szayel belonged there.

Ichigo also looked up as he entered, but while Szayel's face was white with fear, Ichigo had a smile of welcome.

"Hey, how was hunting?" Ichigo asked pleasantly.

Grimmjow didn't answer, his eyes remaining on the insolent Omega of the pack that had dared to step out of his exile in the corner. Ichgio frowned at the silence and obvious anger he was giving off.

"Grimmjow, is something wrong? Did something happen?" Ichigo questioned concerned, abandoning his place at the table to walk up to him.

Grimmjow ignored him and instead watched as Szayel, very slowly, adjusted his position from sitting up to laying on his back with belly and throat displayed in submissiveness. He even gave off a little 'forgive me, please don't hurt me' whine that cooled Grimmjow's temper slightly.

He gave off a snarl that indicated his clear displeasure before adding a small jerk of his head towards the corner. Szayel took the hint and crawled, belly practically on the ground, back to his corner. It would have been natural to do as an Adjucus, but as an Arrancar he actually looked absolutely ridicules and the hilarious sight of a 'human' attempting to belly crawl into the corner broke through his anger and almost had him laughing in hysterics. He was still annoyed and slightly pissed, but Szayel's quick and clear submission left his own Instinct puffing up in pride.

Since Ichigo's back had been to the shunned one he had missed most of the exchange and was just staring at Grimmjow in confusion and worry. He turned his attention back to the concerned teen.

"Hunting went good," he purred, making sure he was loud enough for Szayel to hear, just to give another little jab that he could go get real meat while the scientist was being relegated to what was left of the taffy packets. "I even have leftovers," he smirked, dropping the corpse to the ground to the side of the door closest to Szayel little corner, just to make sure the scent would torment him.

Ichigo eyed it with a hint of dismay, but otherwise ignored it.

"You are covered in blood,"

"So," Grimmjow shrugged.

"So, I suggest we get cleaned up. I need a break anyway, my brain is about to fry from studying,"

Grimmjow was about to protest that he didn't need to clean up, he barely had any blood on him at all, but the look of promise in Ichigo's eyes silenced his budding protest and brought a smirk to his face.

"Are you really going to eat that?" Ichigo questioned, looking at the corpse as they moved away from the door and towards the bathroom.

Grimmjow turned his attention back to the insect like hollow, reminded again how little he cared for the taste of such creatures. He was fairly full as well and he knew Ichigo would not stand having the corpse laying around for long, nor was it wise to leave one.

"I suppose not," he grunted, and kept on walking.

"Szayel could eat it," Ichigo offered.

Grimmjow's first response was a quick and automatic NO followed by anger that Ichigo would even suggest that the pathetic bitch be permitted to consume food _he_ had hunted. If Szayel wanted to eat something other than the packets of taffy crap then H'tsu could go hunt it up. It wasn't his responsibility to care for the leech and Szayel should be thankful they were feeding him at all!

Of course, H'tsu was once more merged with Ichigo and that would mean Ichigo would have to go hunting, and the thought of Ichigo hunting for Szayel left an even fouler taste in his mouth. Granted as pack Alpha it was Ichigo's responsibility to see to the pack, as he well knew from his own years of leading a pack, but that didn't mean it sat well with him.

"Fine, the bitch can eat it," he snapped over at the curtains. "Doesn't deserve it, but it is foolish to let a perfectly good meal go to waste," he growled grudgingly.

It wasn't until they were both in the bathroom that Ichigo spoke again with a ting of anger in his voice.

"I had thought you were a far more rational being then H'tsu."

Grimmjow blinked at the insult, wondering where in Hueco Mundo that had come from. Ichigo sensed his confusion for the teen was quick to explain in a soft voice so it would not carry from the bathroom.

"H'tsu use to torture him by leaving corpses in his room on a daily basis. Very rarely did he actually let Szayel eat even a small portion of one. The rest of the time H'tsu consumed them in front of him after forcing him to stare at them for several hours."

Grimmjow felt no sympathy for Szayel, but he understood what Ichigo was trying to say. The teen was sometimes too soft for his own good, too kind hearted even towards those that did not deserve it. Seeing H'tsu's behaviour reflected in him must really be bothering Ichigo, who was still having a hard time coming to terms with what his hollow had done to another.

"He tortured you, tore your soul in three and caged me like an animal. Do not expect me to feel any sympathy for him," Grimmjow snarled in annoyance, growing on anger that Ichigo would be defending the intruder in their lives. "I would kill him without a moment's hesitation and the only thing holding my hand is the fact _you_ actually want him alive and hold the position of Alpha."

"You bitch about being treated like an animal, and then go ahead and act like one," Ichigo snapped back at him in frustration. "So which are you Grimmjow?"

The snap took him by surprise, as did the insult. Ichigo had never treated him like some sort of animal, even when they had been trying to kill each other.

"I am a hollow," he growled.

"You are an Arrancar," Ichigo cut in before he could say more, "half hollow, half shinigami, barely any different from a vizard. They do not act like animals," Ichigo paused for a moment, "mostly. Hiyori is something else," he muttered. "My point being is that you are now _more_ than a hollow, as you have proven to me time and time again, even if you grouch about needing to act differently during or after.

"And yet when it seems most convenient to you, or when you simply don't like the way something is going and you think you can get away with it, you start to act up like this, claiming it's 'Instinct' and 'Natural.' You start acting like a spoiled child throwing a temper tantrum when you don't get your way."

Grimmjow was stunned into silence. Ichigo had never gotten angry at him like this before, not even during the war. The incident over H'tsu's actions was hurting the teen far more than he had let on and the guilt was positively eating him alive.

"He deserved every thing H'tsu gave him, and I bet Zangetsu even agrees, so don't bring that bastard into this," he snarled.

"You don't even know what H'tsu did to him! I have seen what hollows are capable off, I know you are not some tame house cat, but this went far beyond anything I have even seen or heard of Aizen doing," Ichigo snarled. "I would like to think that if you had come out on top you would have _never_ treated me, or any of your previous mates, anywhere near the same way H'tsu treated him. Tell me I am wrong Grimmjow?" Ichigo demanded.

His mouth snapped shut in surprise.

"If one of your pack members had been treated like that, mated so violently they were forced to miscarry not once, but twice, would you have stood by and let it happen?" Ichigo challenged softly.

"No," he answered before he could even think about it, the answer taking him by surprise as well. "But they never deserved it," he added in defence. "We killed our food and ate it, we didn't play with it or torture it. Do you blame a hunter for killing a deer?"

"And just how were you tortured?" Ichigo challenged, completely ignoring the analogy he had offered.

Grimmjow opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. He had been caged, yes, but that was all. He had been feed, arguably better than Ichigo had been feeding him, and brought to his Alpha so the markings could be refreshed. Other than that he had been left alone. No intrusive experimentation. No strange drugs administered. He had been left to rest and eat in a semi comfortable cell.

"The only reason he never fucked with me was because he was too busy tearing you apart," he snarled. He crossed his arms and glared at Ichigo, "I still stand by my declaration, the moment you cease showing interest in him, I will kill him."

"I see. I suppose animal it is then," Ichigo seethed as he stormed out of the bathroom, leaving a stunned Grimmjow behind to stare after him in shock, wondering what in the seven layers of hell had just happened.

Coming to his senses he stormed out as well with the intent to continue this argument. He was surprised to see Zangetsu leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the door from the unmoved and untouched corpse. He paused before the door, just knowing that Zangetsu would not let him pass without a fight and surprised that Ichigo had managed to manifest his Zanpakuto's spirit when, as far as Grimmjow knew, he had never been able to before.

"I agree with Ichigo," the spirit said solemnly.

"Yeah, and what does H'tsu think?" he couldn't help but to sneer, certain the hollow half of Ichigo would agree with him.

"That Ichigo should throw you to the ground and make what he did the Szayel seem like child's play in order to remind you of your place in this pack, Beta," Zangetsu answered with brutal honesty.

He flinched at that and gave himself a mental slap for thinking H'tsu would have had anything else to say about the situation. Had any Beta or Omega dared to raise their voice to him like he just had with Ichigo, he would have shown them their place as well.

"And what do you think?" he questioned tiredly.

"I agree with Ichigo," Zangetsu responded, an ever so _enlightening_ answer.

His eyes fell once more onto the corpse still sitting by the door before he turned his attention over to the curtained off area. He had said the bastard could eat it, so why hadn't he?

"The things I do for that boy," he growled as he grabbed the corpse and hauled it over to the smaller nest, pulling the curtains aside.

He blinked in shock as the body trembling in the corner flinched as the curtain was pulled aside. He had expected smugness from the Omega for putting the Alpha pair against each other, not pure, open terror that had Szayel shaking like a new born cub facing a Vasto Lorde that thought it looked like an appetizer. His eyes fell upon the book lying open on the floor, the pages that were displayed were covered in water marks, poorly crafted Kanji (a very affront to Szayel's need for perfection) and dried blood.

Grimmjow dropped the corpse and grabbed the book, earning such a meek and pathetic whimper of protest from the form huddled in the corner that he was honestly shocked any Arrancar, let alone a former Espada, could make such a broken, pathetic noise.

He flipped through the pages, surprised at how many of them had blood stains and poorly drawn kanji. He scanned through the detailed lists of injuries inflected from beginning to where they ended at Ichigo's interference. He actually felt sickened as he read through the day by day inflections and now truly understood why Szayel had miscarried twice when before he had simply attributed it to the Scientist patheticness. Even _he_ would have miscarried being treated in such a manner and he felt bile rise in his throat.

"_H__'__tsu truly is one sick, twisted fuck, even for a hollow__"_he grunted to himself. _"__Not even that bastard Nnoitra would have done shit like this, had he even known where to stick it. Hell, not even Aizen had ordered shit like this done__"_

Did he still think Szayel deserved to die? Yes. Did he think the former Espada deserved the list of injuries inflected upon him? Not so much.

"Ichigo is making me fucking soft," he grouched aloud as he closed the book, honestly unwilling to read more. "Hurry up and eat this shit before I change my mind," he growled at the still cowering creature in the corner, leaving the makeshift room with the book still in hand.

He returned to his own nest, checked to make sure the egg was fine, before once more forcing himself to open the book to the first page read through the personal notes.

"The shit I do for that boy," he growled aloud, but nonetheless kept reading, trying to understand his Alpha's rage.

The scientific shit he couldn't have cared less about and he felt no remorse essentially going through someone's personal diary. The first entries left him only slightly annoyed with H'tsu, it really wasn't all _that_ bad, but once he got to the first miscarriage and the hollow's treatment of his Beta afterwards… He felt his anger rise and he suddenly understood Ichigo's feelings on the matter, why the teen was so furious. Had anyone in his old pack even _attempted_ to treat their Beta like this he would have stepped in, especially as he read through everything that had happened between the two miscarriages. The kanji were so sloppily written that they were almost impossible to read, like Szayel's hand had been violently shaking while trying to record the events.

Grimmjow grudgingly admitted that Szayel had done absolutely everything he could have as a Beta, and even a few thing Grimmjow would never have thought of trying, to appease his Alpha; assuming his words were honest and Grimmjow had no reason to doubt they were. Szayel had a habit of being completely truthful since there were apparently only 'facts' in science. By the time Grimmjow was done reading his urge to kill the impostor to his den had faded somewhat and he completely understood why Szayel acted as he did.

The part that surprised him the most was just how jealous Szayel was of him, and how honestly afraid he was that death was but one laps of Ichigo's attention away. Grimmjow had learned some things he almost wished he hadn't.

"_Getting way too fucking soft,__"_he snarled to himself. _"__Must be the bloody mating hormones,__"_ he grouched.

Grimmjow stood up and returned to Szayel's corner, pulling the curtains aside and watched as Szayel, once again, flinched. This time he wasn't cowering in the corner but laying in his nest with fresh tear marks on his face and the corpse barely nibbled on. The Omega immediately rolled over, offering throat and belly to him while keeping his eyes glued to the book Grimmjow held on his hands.

"Hurry up and eat that shit," he grunted, handing the book over.

Szayel snatched it out of his hands, as if he was honestly afraid that Grimmjow would change his mind about handing it back, and cradled it to his chest with his undamaged hand. Grimmjow snorted in derision and stormed back out of the little make shift room to return to his own nest.

Zangetsu had watched the whole exchange in silence and hadn't moved from his vigilant guard at the door.

"What are you staring at?" he growled at the Zanpakuto spirit as he curled up around his egg.

"Ichigo will be pleased,"

"Tsu, fuck Ichigo," he muttered as he curled up more comfortably around his young.

The egg gave of a soft pulse of life that brought a smirk to his face before it fell into a frown. What would have happened that day on the couch if Ichigo hadn't managed to reign H'tsu in? What would have happened to him if Ichigo had been incapable of controlling his hollow? Would he be in Szayel place now?

He really didn't want to dwell on such thoughts and pulled his egg as close to him as he could, assuring himself his young was here, it was safe. That soon it would hatch. That Ichigo would return once his temper had cooled and would never, ever dare treat him like that.

* * *

><p>Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews. HUG. I love them all, you all rock. Hay, anyone else have a deviant art account and can't read the messages. It says I got some but the pages are completely blank.

Next Chapter: Pages of make up sex, what more could you possibly ask for?


	22. Moonlit Dessert

Moonlit Dessert

Ichigo was furious; furious at Grimmjow for being a thick headed idiot, furious at himself for forgetting, again, that Grimmjow was a hollow and not human, and beyond furious at H'tsu for putting him in this situation. His hollow was still going on about 'what he should do to the insolent whelp' for daring to speak back to him like that. For good measure the bastard was running some of his own memories of disciplining his pet through Ichigo's mind, putting the irate teen in an even fouler mood as he had to mentally fight off each one.

He really, really wished he could kill H'tsu, eradicate him from his mind while still having access to his powers, but if he was sure such a thing was possibly Kisuke or Shinji would have told him about it by now. Both were familiar with how unstable H'tsu was and how much of a danger he was.

"_Enough!__"_ he snarled at his hollow half once they were truly out in the desert.

Las Noches still loomed up behind him despite the fact he was several leagues away, the fortress was just that big.

"_**You have gotten too soft on him,**__**"**_H'tsu accused. _**"**__**I told you, I told you on the first day not to give him oral pleasure. Only a Beta does such things for its Alpha**__**'**__**s pleasure,**__**"**_H'tsu snarled at him. _**"**__**Now he thinks he has the right to stand up to you and disobey you, and all just so you could punish me!**__**"**_

"_He is not a pet,__"_Ichigo ground out for what felt like the hundredth time. _"__And he is capably of compassion and other such _human_ emotions. I have seen it, he just doesn__'__t like to show it. He is not an animal!__"_

"_**He**__**'**__**s a hollow!**__**"**_H'tsu shrilled in his mind. _**"**__**He will always be a hollow. The strong do to the weak what they will. Do you think he would treat you as kindly had we let **_**him**_** mate **_**us**_**?**__**"**_H'tsu challenged.

"_Yes.__"_ Ichigo answered without any hesitation. _"__He would have never treated me the way you treated Szayel!__"_

"_**My pet is different, he deserved to be punished,**__**"**_H'tsu snorted.

"_A spanking is punishment, being locked in a cell is punishment, that was nothing more than brutal torture and rape for your own amusement,__"_ Ichigo snarled back.

"_**Rape?**__**"**_H'tsu questioned. _**"**__**Such a thing does not exist in Huecu Mundo,**__**"**_H'tsu sniffed. _**"**__**I was stronger, I came out on top, I decided to mate him as was my right.**__**"**_

"_It is __**never**__ someone__'__s right to rape another, and he couldn__'__t have come out on top even if he __**had**__ been the stronger one,__"_Ichigo snarled.

He felt H'tsu's flash of surprise at the statement before his hollow went silent for a moment.

"_**No, I guess he never could,**__**"**_H'tsu chuckled. _**"**__**I should have guessed what he was when I noticed how fucking good his blood tasted before mating him.**__**"**_ H'tsu mused._**"**__**He truly is a good fuck though, despite his bony body. You should hear the little whimpers he makes when I**__**…"**_H'tsu purred.

"_Enough,__"_Ichgio cut him off before he could continue down that vein.

"_**Speaking of my pretty little pet, are you going to let me out to mate him soon or not?**__**"**_H'tsu questioned irritably.

"_No,__"_Ichigo answered firmly.

"_**But his markers need to be refreshed before he starts attracting things, like those despicable Shinigami hovering on the other end of the fortress,**__**"**_ H'tsu pointed out, his voice actually sounded whiny. _**"**__**Unless if you want to mark him yourself of course?**__**"**_H'tsu suggested slyly.

The very thought made Ichigo feel sick.

"_**It**__**'**__**s me or you King,**__**"**_H'tsu taunted. _**"**__**His markers need to be refreshed, even Grimmjow knows that.**__**"**_

Ichigo's scowl deepened. He knew H'tsu was right, Grimmjow had confirmed it the first time the importance of remarking had been brought up. Szayel markers were going to need to be refreshed, it had already been five days since H'tsu last took him.

Ichigo felt as if his entire body was being constricted. He didn't trust H'tsu not to hurt the already broken Arrancar and he was completely uncomfortable doing it himself. Even thinking about it made him feel like he was betraying Grimmjow, despite their very recent argument.

"_**You are too soft,**__**"**_ H'tsu grumbled_**. **__**"**__**Fine, I promise I won**__**'**__**t hurt him more than even you would agree he deserves,**__**"**_ H'tsu promised grudgingly, clearly through gritted teeth as if even uttering the offer made the hollow physically ill; despite his obvious lack of a physical body.

"_I__'__ll ask him,__"_ Ichigo settled for now.

He felt H'tsu swell with rage that any Beta would be _asked_ to be mated, but the hollow held his tongue for once. Ichigo was still the pack Alpha, and it was within his right to deny H'tsu any chance to mate at all.

"_**Well, that**__**'**__**s my pet covered,**__**"**_H'tsu grumbled, _**"**__**now about yours.**__**"**_

"_Don__'__t call him that,__"_Ichigo ordered automatically, _"__and there is nothing wrong with Grimmjow.__"_

"_**King, let me give you some advice.**__**"**_

"_I don__'__t want it,__"_he grumbled.

"_**Come now, have I ever given you bad advice before?**__**"**_ H'tsu questioned innocently.

If H'tsu had been standing beside him, he would have levelled one hell of a look at his hollow for that statement.

"_**I mean real advice,**__**"**_H'tsu amended.

Curse his hollow over all of the layers of hell and back. He grudgingly had to admit that H'tsu had never given him bad 'real' advice.

"_Alright, what is it?__"_he asked reluctantly.

"_**Listen until the end before you get upset,**__**"**_H'tsu instructed.

"_I will,__"_ he promised.

"_**You made a big mistake giving Grimmjow such attention, by doing so you were undermining your own authority and basically telling him that you think of him as the more powerful. Now he**__**'**__**s got it in his head that he is the one in charge. You need to put him back in his place before it turns into a fight with fists instead of words,**__**"**_

Ichgio bit back his retorts and impatiently waited for H'tsu to get to the point.

"_**You are too soft, too naive. He is still a hollow, with hollow instincts, and he will respond to those instincts because it is just the way things are. You need to get back on top and the only way to do that is to remind him who**__**'**__**s boss.**__**"**_

"_I won__'__t torture him,__"_Ichigo said firmly.

"_**Too soft,**__**"**_H'tsu muttered. _**"**__**Don**__**'**__**t waste time with words, words are for pussies. March back in there, pin him down and **_**aggressively**_** mate him. I doubt he will protest, at least not for long anyhow.**__**"**_ He had the distinct impressing that H'tsu was smirking._**"**__**Remind him why you are the one on top, that you are the King. Remind him that he should be honoured to be your Beta and bear your young.**__**"**_H'tsu ordered sternly. _**"**__**If you **_**must**_** talk to him, do it after you put him back in his place,**__**"**_H'tsu added reluctantly. _**"**__**Honestly though, words are a complete waste of time,**__**"**_H'tsu muttered under his breath.

The advice did seem somewhat sound, not that he was going to forgive H'tsu for his transgressions anytime soon. He did feel somewhat cooled down, his temper slightly assuaged. By the time he made it back to the den he had convinced himself that H'tsu, in this case, was probably right.

When it came to understanding how a hollow thought and functioned, H'tsu was, unfortunately, the expert. He summoned Zangetsu back to his soul as he approached the door, pausing to let the new memories sink into his mind and pleased with what Zangetsu had to relay, even if H'tsu muttered something about hollows starting to become bloody soft as well.

He entered the room and walked right up to the nest, shedding his clothing as he went. Grimmjow blinked up at him and opened his mouth to speak, but Ichigo silenced him by sweeping down and shoving his tongue into the inviting mouth, taking his Beta by surprise.

Ichigo never even gave Grimmjow a chance to fight back and simply dominated the kiss while shoving him onto his back with very little resistance. Grimmjow brought his reiatsu up to defend himself and Ichigo simply bore his down, reminding Grimmjow just who was stronger without causing pain or discomfort.

He felt Grimmjow shiver under him and he had to hold back a smirk as the Arrancar pinned beneath him instantly became hard. For such an aggressive, outgoing, take charge person, Grimmjow sure seemed to love being pinned, taken, and essentially Dominated.

Ichigo finally broke off from the dominating kiss, leaving Grimmjow panting for breath, and moved his mouth down the side of his Beta's face before latching onto the neck that was bared for his attention. Grimmjow's body arched as Ichigo nipped the sensitive skin over his jugular, drawing a small amount of blood and eagerly lapping it up. He ground their bodies together, feeling his own erection spring fully into life as it rubbed against Grimmjow's.

"Kurosaki," Grimmjow growled, or attempted to. It turned into a mew of pleasure halfway through as Ichigo tweaked a nipple between his fingers and took another nip out of his Beta's throat to silence him.

He continued his assault, attacking Grimmjow's body with teeth and fingers, caressing and nipping all the little pleasure spots he knew the former Espada had while still grinding their lengths together. When he had his Beta panting and almost whimpering with need, he dug out the bottle of oil stashed safely between two pillows and set it in one of Grimmjow's hands.

The pinned Arrancar needed no prompting and prepared himself quickly while Ichigo continued to nip and lap at the throat bared for his teeth, enjoying each shiver of pleasure Grimmjow gave off beneath him until the Arrancar let out a little whine, wordlessly telling him he was ready.

Ichigo ignored the first three whines before finally pulling one of his Beta's legs up and shifting slightly down the body to better position himself. He didn't enter just yet, but thrust shallowly along Grimmjow's rear until another whimper of need was torn out of the former Espada's throat. Ichigo teased him for a moment longer before adjusting that leg in his grasp a bit more and thrusting in right to the hilt, nailing that little bundle of nerves buried deep inside of his Beta's body dead on.

The result was instantaneous as Grimmjow's entire back arched and he let out a roar of pleasure. Ichigo slowly grated his hips, barely withdrawing at all and rubbing his length alongside that prostate. He watched in satisfaction as Grimmjow writhed beneath him, letting out little gasps, whimpers and mews of pleasure. He kept the pace just that torturously slow and watched pleased while Grimmjow's entire body became slick with sweat and his blue eyes hazed completely over until there wasn't even a sign of sense in them anymore. The body beneath his trembled in pleasure and bucked up to try and get more friction, but Ichigo keep him pinned to the floor with his own weight and the leverage having one leg captured gave him, preventing Grimmjow from moving his hips very much at all and thus left to be pleasurably tormented by the slowly rubbing of Ichigo inside of him.

"Kurosaki," Grimmjow moaned.

Ichigo smirked and captures those trembling lips with his own, engaging his Beta in a very one sided tongue war and picking up the pace of his thrusts just slightly. He released Grimmjow's hip and moved that hand between their bodies, latching onto Grimmjow's ignored length and started to stroke it at the soft, still slow pace he had set, assaulting the tip with his thumb.

He kept them suspended like that for almost an hour before he felt Grimmjow's muscles trembling beneath him in desperate need of release and there was a constant pleading sort of meowing coming from the besieged Arrancar. Ichigo smirked and finally picked up the pace to the far more rough and tumble like pace they usually employed, however this time he pinned Grimmjow's hands above his head so that only the Alpha got a taste of anyone's blood and his shoulders were, for once, left unscratched.

Grimmjow thrashed beneath him in pleasure and the little mews turned into growls and roars as he raised his hips to meet each of Ichigo's downwards thrust. Ichigo could feel the end coming quickly, and knew Grimmjow had to be damn close as well. He had a reputation to maintain and bit down on Grimmjow's throat to ground him. Grimmjow let out a roar of pleasure as Ichigo's teeth sank into his neck and he came violently, his entire body going into convulsions, Ichigo joined him three convulsions in.

They remained still for a moment after, Grimmjow panting heavily with eyes glazed over in lust while Ichigo suckled the blood trickling into his mouth and soothed the torn skin with his tongue.

His Beta looked to be completely drained, but he was still semi hard. They both definitely needed a shower now and he let out a smirk as a rather wicked thought occurred to him.

"Ichigo?" Grimmjow questioned confused.

Ichigo just grinned down at him and finally released the hands he had trapped. He sat up between the legs still trembling with the aftershocks of an intense orgasm without withdrawing his semi hard length.

"I am not done, and we need a shower," was the only explanation he gave before forcing those trembling legs to wrap around his waist and pulling Grimmjow up with him as he stood up.

It was a hell of a lot harder to do than it looked in an anime, especially because they were about the same height and weight, but he managed not to stumble and it was easier to balance his load once Grimmjow grasped onto his shoulders for balance, a look of shock crossing his Beta's face.

"Ichigo…" Grimmjow began in a growl.

Ichigo silenced him by once more nipping his throat, uninterested in hearing whatever it was he had to say. They could speak in the morning. H'tsu had been right about one thing, Grimmjow understood actions much more than he understood words, and Ichigo was going to show him a few things.

Stepping into the tub with his cargo was interesting, but once in it he was able to pin Grimmjow's body against the wall while he fumbled for the taps to get the water running and the shower going. The hot spray of water instantly soaked them both and Ichigo sighed in pleasure. Aizen had been an asshole, but he sure knew how to have amazing showers constructed.

Spray on, he continued to ravage Grimmjow's throat, although he made certain not to leave too many love bites. He snaked one of his hands further down one of Grimmjow's thighs and began to fondle his Beta's sacks.

Grimmjow let out a moan of pleasure and started to slowly move his body up and down Ichigo's semi hard length. It didn't remain semi hard for long and he could feel Grimmjow getting hard again against him. The slow pace didn't last for long and soon enough Ichigo was practically bouncing Grimmjow off of the shower wall as they mated. The position was getting uncomfortable and he was unable to tease Grimmjow's own length, so he set those legs down, pulled out, flipped Grimmjow around, and rammed back in before Grimmjow could protest. Ichigo wrapped one hand around Grimmjow's length and stroked it while the other captured one arm, a hand full of hair, and pinned his Beta to the wall.

Grimmjow bucked against him, snapping, moaning, snarling, and meowing. Ichigo smirked and continued the heavy pace until white cum splashed against the wall and his Beta shivered against him. Ichigo didn't stop and kept thrusting, holding his weak kneed partner up until he felt that Grimmjow seriously needed a rest.

He pulled out and licked a trail up Grimmjow's neck before releasing the hold he had on his Beta. Grimmjow remained leaning against the wall for several minutes, panting with exertion before slowly turning around to glare at him. It might have had more effect if his eyes were not still glazed over in pleasure.

"I fucking hate you sometimes Kurosaki," Grimmjow growled weakly at him.

"Too bad this isn't one of those times," Ichigo smirked at him.

Grimmjow sent him a weak glare before sighing in surrender and leaning against the wall behind him, his legs still too weak to support him without assistance.

"I read his stupid little book," Grimmjow admitted.

"And?"

"I won't say he didn't deserve half of it, but…"

Ichigo remained silent and waited patiently for Grimmjow to finish.

"I would have never let any member of my pack be treated like that, nor treat another like that. It was disgusting," Grimmjow admitted slowly. "Not even bastards like Aizen or Tousen ever pulled shit like that. You want him as a part of this pack, fine, I'll treat him as part of the pack. H'tsu mated him so that brings him in, and he has been a surprisingly obedient Omega so far. Just don't expect me to make friends with him and I _will_ put him back in his place if he steps out of line," he ended with a snarl.

"I wouldn't ask for more."

Ichigo was heavily pleased. He knew Grimmjow was more than just some mindless animal, he just needed a push in the right direction sometimes. There was hope for the blue haired Arrancar yet and, while he doubted the two Arrancar would ever become friends, he at least knew that Grimmjow would tolerate the other until it was safe for him to leave.

He felt himself harden even more, but he wasn't so certain he wanted to push another round on his clearly exhausted Beta, at least not yet, and they still needed to clean up a bit. He felt a smirk touch his lips. Grimmjow was too busy regaining the rest of his wits after that last orgasm to notice.

Ichigo bent down, grabbed one of the sponges, lathered it up good and soapy, and began to wash the sweat off of his Beta's chest. Grimmjow jumped a bit in surprise at the unexpected touch and stared at him through eyes that where still half glazed.

"What are you…?"

Ichigo silenced him with his own mouth, not pausing in the slow, erotic rubbing of the sponge over Grimmjow's body and was rewarded with a weak shiver of pleasure as he teased one nipple with said sponge. He broke the dominating kiss off when he felt Grimmjow go slack against him. The sponge made its slow and teasing trip all over his Beta's body, from front to back and from top to bottom. He paid extra special attention to the sensitive places, especially the nipples.

He tossed the sponge aside once he had visited every part of Grimmjow's skin that needed attention except for one place between Grimmjow's legs. That he ignored for now, although he made sure he had brushed past that particular part several times. It was too early after the last orgasm for Grimmjow to be fully hard yet, but there was definitely a budding of life there.

Sponge gone, Ichigo set his hands on Grimmjow's shoulders and put pressure on them until Grimmjow kneeled, giving off a growl of complaint but otherwise obeying the silent command. Shampoo was the next weapon Ichigo called upon, although he spent more time messaging the scalp held under his fingers than actually washing the powder blue hair. Grimmjow certainly made no complaint about that and was even giving off what Ichigo could only call 'content growls' as his fingers worked their magic. He could practically feel the tension drain from his Beta. When the Shampoo was finally washed completely away under the spray of water he switched to conditioner and resumed his assault. The condition was more resilient than the Shampoo and it took far longer for the water to wash it out.

"Are you just about ready for bed?" Ichigo questioned.

"I think you missed a spot," Grimmjow complained.

"Oh?" Ichigo queried, finally letting Grimmjow stand up again to face him.

Ichigo picked up the sponge from where it had landed on the floor, soaped it up once more, and rubbed it over Grimmjow's chest, tweaking past the left nipple and watching in satisfaction as the semi hard length hanging between Grimmjow's legs stiffened back up to full length.

"Here?" Ichigo questioned innocently.

"No," Grimmjow growled.

"Here?" Ichigo questioned, moving the sponge over to the other nipple.

"Kurosaki!"

"Maybe over here?" Ichigo moved the sponge down and back so it was rubbing against Grimmjow's entrance.

A growl was the only complaint Grimmjow gave this time and Ichigo had to hold back a chuckle.

"Maybe right here. Is this the spot?" Ichigo purred as he wrapped the sponge around Grimmjow's length and began to rub it enticingly.

It wasn't long until water and soap wasn't the only thing running off of the engorged tip as Ichigo used the sponge to torment and pleasure the creature moaning before him; giving shallow thrust into his waiting hands and the sponge.

"Fuck," Grimmjow cursed, his entire body shaking.

It was the sign Ichigo had been waiting for, and with no further warning other than to drop the sponge, he picked Grimmjow up, slammed him against the shower wall, and thrust into him in a single, fluid motion that tore a scream of pleasure out of his victim's throat.

He pounded into the willing body trapped between him and the tile, gasping and groaning in his own pleasure as Grimmjow's claws dug into his shoulders before running down his arms, leaving a thin trail of blood in their wake. Ichigo buried his teeth in Grimmjow's neck, sucking on that sweet tasting blood and greatly enjoying the loud moan his Beta gave off.

He felt Grimmjow shiver against him, hardly noticing the cum coating his chest as he brought Grimmjow to his third release. This time he let go as well, filling the Arrancar's rear with his own release and shaking as pleasure coursed through his body. They remained entangled for some time after, neither one moving as they slowly came back to their senses.

"Now we are dirty again," Grimmjow growled, being the first to speak.

Ichigo chuckled softly and finally pulled away, and out, of his partner.

"Are you complaining?" He challenged.

"Hardly," Grimmjow smirked at him.

They managed to finish cleaning up and return to the nest without any further molestations, mainly because they were both so burnt that sleep was really starting to sound heavily attractive.

They took their typical positions; Grimmjow curled around the egg and Ichigo curled protectively around him. Both were asleep in a moment, leaving the only sound in the room that of light breathing and a pen scratching across paper.

* * *

><p>Don't be shy, let me know what you think wink. As usual, I love the reviews


	23. Unwanted, but Necessary

Unwanted, but Necessary

It was damn near impossibly to sleep when the Alpha pair was going at it like wild animals, so Szayel didn't even try. Today had been one hell of an emotional roller coaster anyway and he had a considerable amount of interesting data to enter into his journal, which was quickly running out of pages now that he had access to more interesting data.

From Ichigo's ready acceptance of him, despite the torture he had put the teen through, and willingness to learn and listen to him in regards to his studies; to Grimmjow going from 'ready to put him back into his place' to permitting him to feed from the Alpha Beta's own kill! The last still left his mind reeling slightly. Ichigo seemed to have the unique ability of changing everyone around him. Even he was feeling guilty for splitting the teen's soul apart and found himself wanting to make it up to the pack Alpha somehow.

He made sure to record the strange emotional observation with side notes to test for any sort of pheromone or psychic radiance Ichigo might be giving off when, or more accurately if, he ever got the chance. There was just something about Ichigo that made you want to help him, to please him, and Szayel didn't think it was because he was now mated and Ichigo his Pack Alpha. No, he recalled that Aizen had made note of the teen's strange ability to befriend almost anyone and turn them to his side. This was definitely something worth studying.

"_A pity there are no other surviving Espada to see if Ichigo could change them as well. It would be interesting to see what kind of effects he might have had on Nnoitra or even Harrible. Could he have turned them to his side?" _Szayel wondered curiously.

Harrible probably. She wasn't big on fighting and shared a lot of common elements with her predecessor Nelliel, whom Szayel did know Ichigo had befriended easily. Nnoitra, on the other hand, was a whole other story. He cared nothing for others, only his own strength. It would have been interesting to see how a real battle between those two would have worked out.

It took almost two hours for the mating pair to finally wear each other out and plunge the den into silence. He could not be more thankful. It wasn't that there was anything strange or wrong about listening, or watching, the Alpha pair mate. Privacy wasn't really a thing hollows cared about much, but it was painful to be reminded that his Alpha never treated him with even a sliver of what Grimmjow had. Honestly, Szayel had no idea how someone like Ichigo could turn out a creature like H'tsu, unless of course the teen had some very impressive mental damage the he hid really well. He hadn't even realized he had fallen a sleep until he heard Ichigo calling his name the next morning.

It was unusual for either of them to summon him, Grimmjow never that he could recall and Ichigo only to check on his wounds. Most of them had scared up and he had recovered as much as he was likely to with his depleted strength, minus his still mangled left hand. He couldn't help but to wonder if it would ever naturally recover. If not would he ever be able to find the time, and equipment, to fix it?

He poked his nose out of his little den, noticing that Grimmjow was once again gone, no doubt to hunt, and it was just him and Ichigo alone in the room. He hesitated at the threshold, truly not daring to emerge. Grimmjow had made it quite clear yesterday that he didn't want Szayel anywhere near the pack Alpha and he was not going to push the volatile Arrancar's buttons unless ordered otherwise. The only way he was leaving his nest was if Ichigo ordered him too, but no such order seemed to be forthcoming.

Szayel noticed that Ichigo seemed tense. He had a look on his face that spoke of both extreme discomfort and wavering resolve. As if there was something he knew he had to do, but couldn't bring himself to do it. This did not bode well for him and he prayed that the next words out of Ichigo's mouth wasn't going to be words of banishment.

"Your markers," Ichigo finally managed to get out.

Szayel felt his blood freeze and his bones grow cold as dread pooled in his stomach. He had completely forgotten about his markers and realized they were now long overdue to be refreshed. No wonder Grimmjow was having such good luck hunting. By now his scent must have carried hundreds of kilometres. Kami forbid Kurotsuchi's pathetic excuse for a rabble somehow pick up on it.

He glanced at Ichigo hopefully, but it didn't look like Ichigo was at all interested in mating with him. Of course there was no guarantee that Ichigo could refresh the markers anyway. Ichigo and H'tsu were both the same person, and not. That was why his reiatsu suppression system had failed when he had split the boy's soul apart; they both had their own, unique signature.

Then there was the other fact that it was a rare Beta indeed that would put up with another. Grimmjow had already made it clear he was not one of them. If Ichigo did mate with him Grimmjow would kill him the moment the Arrancar returned to discover it. Ichigo was strong, but so was Grimmjow and in Szayel current state it would be child's play for Grimmjow to kill him before Ichigo could intervene. Not to mention that **only** the Alpha could refresh a Beta's markers, which meant that H'tsu had to be the one to do it if they didn't want to be over run by an army of hungry hollows. Mating with Ichigo, or even Zangetsu or Grimmjow should either one of them actually desire to, would turn out to be nothing more than casual sex.

This left only one option that Szayel could possibly fathom; after all if Ichigo could manifest Zangetsu than there was no reason to doubt that he couldn't manifest H'tsu as well.

Ichigo must have picked up on his sudden fear, a child could have, for the when the teen spoke again it was softly, as if speaking to a frightened child or pet.

"If you do not wish it, I won't manifest him," Ichigo assured him softly. "He has been giving strict orders not to hurt you and I wouldn't even be bringing this up if it hadn't been stressed to me how important the markers are."

Szayel could only give a numb nod of his head. It was vitally important that the markers be refreshed. Even though he understood it, and his Instinct was even screaming in agreement, he couldn't help but to wish there was some other way, preferably one that didn't involve H'tsu. But no matter how frantic his mind searched for a way out, he could not find one. To leave the marker off any loner was to truly invite trouble, and he didn't dare do that. At his level of strength he was free game to any that made it unto the den.

"Szayel?" Ichigo called softly, worry in his voice.

"The markers need to be refreshed, they are already dangerously low," he agreed softly, feeling as if he had just signed his own death sentence and pleased his voice had at least remained steady. "Not even I can mange to think of an alternative solution to this dilemma."

"Are you sure?" Ichigo questioned, real concern in his voice.

"Yes. This is not a matter of want, it is a matter of need. I will not put this den, or your cub, in danger if it can be avoided."

Ichigo studied him, before finally giving a soft nod of his own head.

"Alright, if you are sure. Ready?"

Szayel gave a meek nod of his head, unwilling to trust his voice any further.

"I will be right here and if he tries to hurt you I **will** stop it," Ichigo promised, his voice firm and somehow reassuring.

H'tsu manifested beside Ichigo, golden gaze boring a hole into Szayel and despite himself he flinched and felt his entire posture drop submissively.

"**Hello pet," **H'tsu purred.

"H'tsu," Ichigo said firmly.

"**Hai, hai, I won't hurt him anymore than even you would agree he deserves, exactly as promised," **the hollow growled in annoyance.

The sentence was hardly comforting and Szayel desperately wished he could back out, but the safety of the den, and his own life and forming cub, needed his markers to be refreshed. At least most of the damage from H'tsu's previous violent matings had already healed so that would help keep the pain down.

"**You are too soft King," **H'tsu complained. **"Besides, my pet is far better trained than yours. I very much doubt he will displease me,"** H'tsu purred in pleasure.

Ichigo scowled, but said nothing else and simple handed a small bottle over to H'tsu, who stared at in in confusion.

"Use it the way I intend for you to use it, or I will stop this here and now and the consequences be damn," Ichigo threatened firmly.

H'tsu snarled at him, but Ichigo matched the golden gaze with brown eyes, that were also displaying a fair amount of gold, and rise in reiatsu that left the hairs on Szayel's body standing on end. H'tsu was the first to back down.

"**Keh, come on pet, before his Majesty puts a timer on my play time as well," **H'tsu golden gaze settled onto his own fearful, golden gaze.

H'tsu sauntered over to him, every step a display of power until the curtain now separated the two of them from the rest of the world. He felt his heart rate skyrocket and tried to slow it down. It may have been some time, but he recalled enough to keep his eyes open, H'tsu always did love his eyes.

"**Ichigo is too soft,**_**" **_H'tsu groused as he handed the small bottle over.

Szayel stared incomprehensibly at it for a moment before taking it. It was a bottle of oil, and not the kind used for messaging muscles either.

"**Hopefully the lack of attention will make sure your ass is as tight as ever pet," **H'tsu purred at him as the hollow undressed. **"You might as well use that to prepare yourself while you prepare me,"** H'tsu smirked at him as the hollow made himself comfortable on his back in the small nest.

Szayel opened the bottle of oil and poured some of it on his fingers before setting it aside and settling between H'tsu's legs. His lips and tongue wrapped around H'tsu's length while his fingers sought his own entrance with the express intent on preparing himself the best he bloody well could. H'tsu had only ever semi prepared him **once**, sloppily, and that mating had still hurt like a bitch thanks to all the damage. He spread as much saliva as he could and let his Instinct come forward so his Intelligence could go hide in a corner and keep him slightly sane. He desperately wished he could close his eyes, but he recalled all too well how H'tsu had punished such nonsense and Szayel wasn't entirely confident on deciding what Ichigo would consider 'reasonable punishment.' Instead, his eyes remained open and his head tilted to look up his Alpha's body so H'tsu could enjoy the torment and fear that were reflected in them.

"**Still so fucking beautiful," **H'tsu purred in appreciation, caressing a cheek with the back of his hand. **"Enough, it has been too long,"**H'tsu declared ten minutes later, pulling Szayel's head away from him by the hair. **"Your back, I wish to further enjoy your eyes,**_**" **_H'tsu ordered.

Szayel took H'tsu's place in the small nest, locking his eyes onto the ceiling and noting that he seemed to spend a lot of time staring at the damn things. H'tsu entered him as he always did, with a single violent thrust that would have torn a cry from his throat had H'tsu not clamped a hand around his mouth to prevent it. It hurt, just like always, but at least he didn't feel anything tear and H'tsu waited a moment for him to slightly adjust, a first for his violent Alpha. The oil and preparation definitely helped make the penetration smoother and easier.

"**No screams, as much as I desire to hear them. Ichigo wouldn't approve and he would stop me," **H'tsu snarled quietly so the conversation would remain between them. **"But I want to hear those delicious little whimpers you make."**

He gave of a whimper and H'tsu's smiled.

"**Yes, just like that," **H'tsu purred in pleasure.

That was the only warning he got before the fast pace pounding into his body began. It hurt a lot less than it usually did, but H'tsu was rough and he hadn't had time to adjust properly. He felt his insides rubbed raw and H'tsu ran the free set of claws over his body, drawing thin layers of blood in their wake. They were not nearly as deep as they usually where, but they still stung and deeply aggravated his scars. The other hand remained clamped over his mouth to ensure the only sounds escaping him where the little whimpers that H'tsu so loved.

The pace kept like that for a while before he could tell his Alpha was starting to get close to completion. So far he was doing alright, he hurt but it was nothing compared to what he was use to receiving and the scratches on his skin where no deeper than the ones shared between the Alpha pair.

Then there was pain and only the hand clamped around his mouth prevented the scream from escaping as H'tsu's fangs tore into his throat. He struggled weakly as teeth continued to maul his neck line, leaving deep bites that all but gushed blood. The pace H'tsu had set grew erratic and the hand clamped on his mouth tightened, causing his jaw to ache and would no doubt bruise. The other hand grasped a hip, nails digging into the flesh and leaving deep puncture marks that would also bruise.

He finally felt the feeling of H'tsu coming to completion, but his mind hardly registered it over the pain of his neck being mauled and his jaw feeling like it was about to be crushed. Finally, H'tsu came off of his high and the grip on his body loosened and the teeth removed themselves from his flesh.

"**So fucking good," **H'tsu purred, before his eyes widened in panic as his body simply disappeared.

Szayel stared at the now empty space above him in shock, his mind still reeling from the sudden absence of the body pinning his and the pain of his torn throat. The curtains were shoved violently aside and he jumped in shock and fear to see a very pissed off Ichigo standing there, staring down at him.

"Fucking hell," Ichigo cursed as he closed the distance between them.

Despite himself, Szayel flinched away from the angry teen. Ichigo noticed his fear and took an obvious breath to calm himself.

"Relax, I am not going to hurt you. I told him, I ordered him, not to be so bloody violent." Ichigo growled as he kneeled down beside Szayel to examine the damaged throat.

"I am alright," he tried to assure Ichigo. His voice came out pathetically week and his jaw ached from the fresh bruises to muscle and bone. "It looks worse than it actually is."

He did not need a tug o' war between the two. There was still some time before the egg would be laid and he would need his markers refreshed again. He was not gong to get on H'tsu's bad side and, other than his neck, he bore no other injuries that he hadn't seen on the Alpha pair after mating.

"May I go clean myself up?" he requested softly before recalling that Ichigo had ordered him to stop asking such a foolish question and to just do it. One visit from H'tsu and he was already regressing. "Never mind," Szayel offered him what he hoped was a wiry smile. "My brains are not all back yet," he tried to assure the teen as he forced himself to his feet.

He winced as painful discomfort flashed across his rear and the disgusting feeling of cum ran down his legs. It was a relief to notice that, for once, there was no blood mingled with it. As he came out of his shock he realized he really wasn't in bad shape, short of his throat.

Ichigo watched him stumble to the bathroom, but made no further overtures, for which he was thankful for. Szayel tried to walk confidently to assure the Alpha that he was alright, just a little dazed from the aggressive mating.

(POV)

H'tsu was swearing up a storm in his mind, but Ichigo ignored him. Once his temper had cooled down a bit he realized that yes, other than some fairly bad damage to his throat, Szayel looked no different than himself or Grimmjow after mating. The only real difference was that at least Grimmjow got pleasure and enjoyment out of mating while it was clear that H'tsu had offered his Beta no such thing.

"_**You just said I couldn't hurt him too much," **_H'tsu snarled when Ichigo challenged him over it. _**"Besides, the only pleasure that matters is the Alpha's and the Beta should be thankful that he is given even indifference."**_

"_You still hurt him more than was necessary," _Ichigo snarled.

"_**He is fine," **_H'tsu snapped back. _**"You have done much the same to your own mate," **_H'tsu challenged. _**"Hollow's like it rough, you should know that by now. You have mated with your own pet enough."**_

"_Don't call him that," _Ichigo responded automatically.

Silence between them.

"_**I suppose I **_**could**_** have gone a little easier on his throat," **_the hollow finally grudgingly admitted.

It was the closest thing to an apology Ichigo was positive the hollow would ever give, just as he was sure that the apology was only given in hope that Ichigo would not refuse to manifest H'tsu again when the markers weakened.

Szayel did look a lot better when he exited the bathroom, his throat neatly bandaged and the rest of him looking more or less healthy. He even walked slightly more confidently, even if it was still hugging the wall. It was clear his rear was still smarting a bit, but Ichigo figured that was fairly normal. Grimmjow had been walking funny this morning as well when he had gone out to hunt. After last night's activities Ichigo was not surprised to discover the former Espada had worked up one hell of an appetite.

Szayel paused once he reached his nest, and Ichigo could understand why. The three blankets and two pillows were now stained with blood, sweat and cum. The nest he shared with Grimmjow could use a good cleaning as well, but he didn't dare leave the room with no one to guard the egg. He just knew that if he offered to do the laundry while Szayel remained behind that Grimmjow would be furious. On the other side of the coin, Ichigo didn't think Szayel had the strength to wander far alone with such a heavy load and he was so weak that if something did come across him he was as good as dead.

"When Grimmjow returns we can do up a load of laundry," Ichigo offered. "I think I recall seeing a closet full of spare linen in the laundry room. You could use some of the sheets to make a more comfortable nest."

"That would be appreciate," Szayel responded with more than a hint of gratitude.

The room fell into an awkward silence as Szayel stared at his dirty nest and Ichgio tried vainly to think of something to break the sudden uncomfortable silence. His eyes fell upon the coffee table and his school work.

"I sometimes wonder why we even need to learn all this stuff. Are we truly going to need even half of it in life?" he questioned conversationally.

"No knowledge is ever wasted," Szayel answered distantly.

"I guess. Still, who knew that chemistry had so much math in it, and how on earth did you know I had the wrong weight?" Ichigo questioned in honest curiosity as he pulled his Chemistry book forward.

He stared at it for a moment before pushing it away. Thanks to Szayel's help he had almost finished with that subject so he pulled forward his biology book instead while Szayel answered his question with a hint of superiority in his voice.

"I have most of the elements data memorized."

Ichigo shook his head in wonder before flipping the new text book open to where he had left off and pulled his assignment sheet, which had been acting as a book mark, out so he could check where he was.

"How's your biology?" he questioned, glancing over to where the scientist was still staring at his nest.

The question clearly took the pink haired Arrancar by surprise and Szayel looked over at him questionly.

"Well, you helped me out a lot with Chemistry, why not give me a hand with this? My usual study partner is trapped back in the human world and Grimmjow really isn't interested, or knowledgeable, in this stuff. I find I learn better when I work with someone."

"Who is your usual partner?" Szayel questioned curiously, and Ichigo was pleased to notice that Szayel was looking at the books almost longingly, like he really wanted to come over but was too scared to.

"Ishida," Ichigo smirked.

There was no doubt the flash of surprise and recognition that the name brought to Szayel's face.

"The Quincy?"

"The Quincy. I figured you would remember him. Ishida had a lot to say about your battle."

Another flash of surprise, and even fear as if Szayel expected him to pick up the fight and avenge his friend.

"He was rather intelligent, for a human," Szayel reluctantly admitted.

"Please don't let him hear you say that. His ego is big enough as it is," Ichigo groaned good naturedly. "His scores surpass mine, but as I stated yesterday, thinking has never been my strong suit."

As they talked Szayel had inched closer until he was standing on the opposite side of the table, but Ichigo still sensed there was some fear there, of what he couldn't be sure. H'tsu perhaps?

"So, care to help me with this?" Ichigo pushed gently.

Szayel finally sat down and accepted the text book as Ichigo passed it over. The fear remained for at least half an hour before the scientist became so lost in the world of knowledge that the fear completely evaporated.

"_Dear Kami Ishida and Szayel share a fair amount in common," _he couldn't help but to think amused some time later.

Szayel's voice had lost its fear, as well as a fair amount of the meekness, and had gained that sort of derisive tone Ishida likes to use with him when his friend was reminding him just how much smarter than him the Quincy was. The only real difference Ichigo noticed was that Szayel's voice still, somehow, remained oddly submissive and his eyes never rose past Ichigo's neck line. Ishida was never afraid to look him dead in the eye.

"_Of course, just like any animal pack. An Omega would never dare look an Alpha in the eye,"_ Ichigo realized as he recalled both Grimmjow and H'tsu referring to Szayel as such on multiple occasions.

He was fully engrossed in his studies when he felt Szayel suddenly stiffen in fear. He frowned and sent his own senses out, but all he could detect was Grimmjow returning from his hunt. On the other hand he had never been that good at sensing things,

"What is it?" he questioned worriedly, his hand going for Zangetsu's hilt.

"I…" Szayel hesitated. "Grimmjow made it clear that he did not appreciate our sharing of company," Szayel answered, his voice back to meek and broken and his body looking like it was trying to decide to bolt or stay.

"_Oh?" _Ichigo frowned. _"No wonder he was so fearful and hesitant to assist me when I asked. If he was so afraid, than why did he agree?"_

"_**Because you are the pack Alpha," **_H'tsu snorted. _**"Your orders supersede all others,"**_

Right, because of that.

"_You know, just for once, It would be nice if Zangetsu answered my silent questions,"_ he growled in his mind.

"_I am not a hollow and thus no expert on their behaviours," _Zangetsu ever so helpfully pointed out.

"_Of course," _Ichigo responded dryly.

"Well, my studies are more important than his jealous pride," Ichigo assured him, and turned his attention to the door as it opened.

Grimmjow sauntered in, a few splatters of blood on his clothing but otherwise looking as happy as a cat that found the crème. There was a slight pause and flash of anger as his blue eyes landed on the two of them, or more accurately Szayel, but Ichigo summoned his attention back to him with a simple look that demanded obedience.

He heard H'tsu and Zangetsu murmur a compliment to his actions.

(POV)

Hunting had been good, almost too damn good. Prey was becoming almost stupidly easy to find and while he didn't think too much of it at first, he was suddenly worried about the safety of his den. Anyone could be overran, or taking by surprise. He was sauntering his way home when he finally clued in as to why hunting had been going so well.

"Of course, pink boy hasn't had his markers refreshed," he grunted.

He really had no desire to be there while Ichigo summoned out H'tsu to refresh them, because there was no way in hell Ichigo would be the one to refresh them, and that just wasn't his 'non existent' jealousy speaking up. Ichigo would never sleep with another now that they had mated, it was just how the teen was.

He was just approaching his door when he caught the faint whiff of semen and H'tsu's distinctive scent, so similar to Ichigo and yet different. Well that was going to make hunting a bit more difficult without the lure. Maybe he could convince Ichigo to let the markers run late again so they could use Szayel as bait. The cub was going to need a lot of food to grow and it was no great loss if something did manage to get by and kill the scientist.

"_Other than of course Ichigo would feel bad about it and mope about it for weeks," _Grimmjow growled in annoyance. Ichigo was just _too_ soft sometimes.

He opened the door to the den and stepped in, his eyes falling upon Ichigo before switching to a terrified looking Szayel. H'tsu's scent and reiatsu was all over him, confirming Grimmjow's guess that the markers had been refreshed while he was hunting.

His gaze was pulled back to Ichigo before he could feel anything other than annoyance that Szayel had dared disobey his orders to remain in the corner. His Instinct had been firmly reminded just who the Alpha was last night and irritation was the best he could pull up at the moment. Besides, his body still tingled after such an amazing round, or rounds, of mating and hunting had been damn good. He was in too good of a mood to let Szayel's impudence ruin it when Ichigo was probably the one to have ordered the Omega there anyhow. At least this time there were sitting across from each other as was far more befitting of their relationship.

"How was hunting?" Ichigo questioned.

"Good," Grimmjow answered with a smirk as he plopped down beside his Alpha.

The text books were open and he could tell that Ichigo had been working on more of that homework crap he kept insisting was so damn important. It looked like one of his science books, which explained why Szayel was here. Ichigo had commented before he preferred studying with a partner. Grimmjow had to grudgingly admit that there was no better study partner for this kind of shit than the person sitting across from them.

"I see you let H'tsu out to fuck him," Grimmjow smirked, pleased as Szayel flinched and absently rose a hand to touch the fresh bandages wrapped around his neck.

Ichigo let out a frustrated sigh. The teen hated it when he used excessive language and spoke crudely like that.

"Now that you are back, do you want to watch over the cub while I get some laundry done? We are running out of clean parts of the nest."

Grimmjow glanced over at the pile of pillows and blankets, a fair number of them covered in white and red splotches. Now that Ichigo had brought it to his attention, the entire room reeked of sweat and sex, and not all of it came from himself and Ichigo. He wrinkled his noise as the overwhelming stench of H'tsu's release and Szayel's fear also reached his nose, although only the first one was honestly unpleasant.

"Yeah, this place is starting to reek," he agreed.

He could use a nice nap curled around his egg while Ichigo ran off to do the laundry. Ichigo… laundry. No way in hell was Ichigo going to do Szayel laundry. If anything the Omega should be doing the laundry himself while he curled up with Ichigo for some quality nuzzling and petting. No sex, his rear was still a little raw from the riding Ichigo had given him last night, and boy had it been a riding.

Unfortunately, there was far too much laundry for one person to pack and Szayel was, admittedly, too weak to attempt doing that much laundry himself. After the Omega laid perhaps, but not right now, and since there was no way Ichigo was going to be doing any laundry belonging to an Omega, that left only one solution, even though he felt that Ichigo had been spending far too much time with the other Arrancar.

"Take H'tsu's pet with you. His nest needs to be cleaned as well and he can do it himself," Grimmjow sniffed.

Szayel flinched at the nickname, somehow Grimmjow seriously doubted that the mating had been in anyway pleasurable, but otherwise just gave a meek nod of his head in agreement.

"Alright. We should be back in two hours," Ichigo promised.

It didn't take long to gather up the laundry and head out, leaving Grimmjow alone curled up on the couch with the egg for the first time in what felt like ages. Perfect.

"Hello, little one," he cooed softly as he curled up around the egg. "Soon," he purred. "Soon you will come and I can teach you how to hunt. It won't be much longer now,"

The egg rocked softly as the cub inside responded to the sound of his voice.

"That's right, work those muscles. You will be strong, I can tell. You come from good breeding and will be trained by the best. Before long you will hunting by my side and I will watch as you take your first kill."

He felt pride well up in his chest as he studied the egg, rubbing a hand along the shell with gentle caresses no one had ever been privileged to receive from him before, not even Ichigo.

* * *

><p>First off: HUGE HUGS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED. Thank you all so much for the cookies, cupcakes and trophies. This chapter was a record breaker for personal number of reviews received for a chapter. Not to surprising given the smex :) I hope everyone's blood transfusions are going well and that you have all managed to get the red out of eveything.<p>

One thing that drives me crazy is when authors, be they of fanfiction or world renowned, back track or don't stick with their own cannon because to do so makes things uncomfortable or twist the story about in a way they didn't think it might go. In the set up I have going here only the Alpha can remark the Beta and when I first started writing this I hadn't yet thought to include Szayel. It was originally meant to be a one shot. So as unfortunate as it is, only H'tsu could refresh the markers since I pointed out earlier that Ichigo, Zangetsu and H'tsu have their own unique signatures, which is why Szayel's device stopped working when he split their souls apart. Sorry for those of you wishing otherwise, but for the sake of continuity it had to happen this way.

As for my baby, the Ultrasound showed it's doing well and apparently LOVES a waterbed and it's curled up around my bladder. All we could get to see was the head and a bit of chest, everything else was hidden so that even if we wanted to know the gender, it would have been impossible. They actually won't tell you here anyway because there have been too many issues with certain religious/ethnic groups and forced, unsafe abortions if the gender is female.

Next Chapter: The three sit around the table and have a pleasant conversation about how a normal hollow family usually works.


	24. Domestication

Domestication

Laundry had always been something Ichigo hated doing, and had always been pleased to leave it to Yuzu's capable hands. Yuzu was not here of course and he doubted Grimmjow even knew how to use the machines, so that left him with no choice but to do it himself, regardless of how much he loathed it.

He had been right about the linen closet and they raided it for a few extra blankets and pillows to add to Szayel meagre nest. He wasn't sure, but he swore that Szayel was getting some sort of strange satisfaction out of watching his current bedding swirl in the washer.

With two hours of time to kill, Ichigo was suddenly wishing he had brought some of his books with him.

"Ichigo?" Szayel spoke up hesitantly.

"Hmm," he turned his attention to Szayel.

The Arrancar hesitate, eyes cast to the side as if afraid to continue speaking.

"What is it?" he pushed gently.

"Would we be able to swing by my lab on the way back?" Szayel asked in a very meek voice.

Ichigo felt red flags fly and even Zangetsu and H'tsu's attention was captured at the seemingly innocent request. Kami knew what kind of stuff Szayel had in there and Ichigo was not so ready to let him back near it to find out.

"Why?" he questioned suspiciously, and perhaps a bit more sharply than he had intended.

Szayel flinched and his posture shrunk slightly, succeeding in making him look even more submissive and defenceless.

"My book is almost full," the scientist murmured so softly that Ichigo almost didn't even hear him over the sound of the machines running. "I would like to grab another to continue recording my observations."

Oddly enough the request actually made sense. Still, he was hesitant to let Szayel back into the lab. A flash of memory ran through his mind of H'tsu giving his Beta the book, which back tracked to H'tsu finding them. It would be a small penance for H'tsu to pay for hurting his Beta earlier despite promising not to.

He felt H'tsu snarl in protest in his mind, but Ichigo ignored it and reiterated his order sternly while summoning both parts of his soul to manifest. He had never been able to before, but since his soul had been stretched so thin after splitting and reforming he found it exceptionally easy to do.

Szayel literally jumped as they both appeared and H'tsu tossed his Beta a smirk that caused the scientist to flinch and take a step back. Perhaps Ichigo should have warned Szayel that he was summoning the other parts of his soul?

"Come on, H'tsu," Zangetsu ordered as the Zanpakuto spirit made for the door.

"**Hn, I can't believe you are making me do this," **H'tsu snarled before storming out after Zangetsu.

The room was silent for some time. It wasn't until after they switched the laundry into the dryer that Ichigo finally came up with something to break it that would help them both.

"Is your memory as good as Ishida's?" Ichigo questioned.

"Better," Szayel snorted softly in derision.

"Do you remember the questions written at the end of the last chapter we were going through?"

"Of course."

"And the answers to them?"

"Child's play."

Szayel was looking at him now, a hint of light in his eyes that had been dull since H'tsu's summoning, catching on instantly to what Ichigo was implying.

"I suppose the question is, how good is your memory?"

"Not as good, but let's see how much of that stuff managed to stick."

Two hours later they were just finishing folding the laundry and Ichigo was feeling slightly pleased with himself over how much he had remembered and the fact Szayel was speaking to him almost normally. There was still a submissive quality to his voice but Ichigo guessed that would never go away as long as the Arrancar was still a member of the pack. He was an Omega, Ichigo the high Alpha.

H'tsu and Zangetsu returned just as they were finishing up, both of them carrying a box a piece. Ichigo sighed as Szayel's entire posture changed from confident to that of a whipped dog facing his displeased master.

"**Come over here pet,"** H'tsu purred as he set his box down while Zangetsu moved over closer to Ichigo with his.

Szayel did as ordered while Zangetsu met Ichigo's eye, silently telling him to leave it be and not interfere like he really wanted to. He had already strained the relationship between the two by forcing H'tsu to act outside of his nature towards his chosen Beta. He wasn't picking up anything malicious coming from his hollow so he bit his lip and remained silent.

"**Ichigo said you have been a good boy lately, so obedient and well behaved, far more than his own pet. Of course, I trained you far better," **H'tsu cooed.

A meek nod of the head was Szayel's only response and Ichigo found his hands tightening into fists. Zangetsu's presence held him steady.

"**Open your gift pet, you can thank me more properly the next time I refresh your markers, since I know Ichigo won't let me play now."** H'tsu sent him a scowl and Ichigo met him eye to eye.

The box contained two more blank journals, a few pens, a stethoscope, and what appeared to be a uniform.

"Where did you find the stethoscope?" Ichigo asked surprise.

"His lab is well equip," Zangetsu answered.

"I… thank you Alpha," Szayel murmured. "I look forward to thanking you more properly during my next remarking."

Ichigo almost, almost spoke up in protest, but Zangetsu placed a hand on his shoulder to still him. H'tsu smirked happily and then phased out as he returned to Ichigo's soul, practically radiating satisfaction and humming in pleasure.

"You should return to the den. We noticed movement coming this way," Zangetsu spoke up.

"Movement?" Ichigo asked concern.

"Indeed, it would seem that a research group is coming this way from the Shinigami encampment."

All three of them looked that way, but Ichigo could detect nothing. A glance at Szayel indicated that he at least was picking up something, for he was starting to look slightly nervous and, oddly enough, highly annoyed.

"Alright, let's get back to the den," Ichigo agreed heading over to pick up his share of the laundry. "What is in that box anyway?" Ichigo question curiously as he returned with his arms loaded with laundry to glance in. "Is that a coffee pot?" he questioned shocked. "And a tin of coffee, sugar and… is that crème?"

"We found one of the kitchens," Zangetsu explained as he picked the box back up.

"I thought hollows didn't eat human food," he looked over to Szayel for an explanation.

"We do not need to, but that doesn't mean we can't. We just do not get much nutritional value from your kind of food. Aizen-sama, Gin and Tousen, as well as your human friend, all required such food and so there was a store brought in. Some Arrancar actually came to enjoy the taste of human food," Szayel answered, his voice still submissively weak, but still slightly more confident now that H'tsu was gone.

"I noticed," Ichigo smiled amused, thinking of just how pleased Grimmjow was going to be when he discovered Ichigo was returning with Coffee.

(POV)

Grimmjow yawned sleepily as he heard the door to the den open, bringing with it the scent of Ichigo, Szayel, Zangetsu, and clean laundry. He hadn't even realized he had dozed off curled up on the couch around the egg until the interruption to his well earned nap.

"_Ichigo can set the nest back up," _he thought sleepily.

He checked on the egg before shifting to a more comfortable position on the couch and dozing off again. He woke again sometime later to the smell of something very familiar, even though it took him a moment to recognize the heavenly scent. He blinked blurry eyes open to see what appeared to be a steaming mug inches away from his nose, from which the wonderful scent was coming.

"Is that…." he questioned groggily, although his mind was quickly clearing as he was roused from his slumber.

He sat up slowly, his eyes focusing on the steaming mug that was slowly being drawn away from him.

"Evening," Ichigo smirked at him. "Thirsty?"

"Hand it over and I might not maim you," Grimmjow growled, reaching for the cup.

"Manners," Ichigo chilled, pulling the cup out of reach.

"Please hand over the cup before I main you," he snarled.

Ichigo chuckled and handed the cup over. Grimmjow snatched it out of Ichigo's hands and brought it in for a long inhale, sighing contently at the end when his lungs could no longer hold anymore of the deliciously scented oxygen. He took a slow sip, mindful of the fact that it was still hot. His eyes closed in bliss and he felt almost every muscle in his body relax.

"This shit is almost better than sex," he purred.

"Wow, I know I am still knewish to the whole sex thing, but I didn't think I was that bad," Ichigo pouted.

"You're getting better," he smirked at the teen.

Fully awake, he looked over the back of the couch to see how the nest was doing. Ichigo had done a nice job setting it back up and he could see that Szayel had added a few more pieces to his.

Ichigo sat down on the other side of the egg, bringing it closer and staring at it in wonder. The egg rocked slightly as the young inside reacted to its Sire's presence.

"You know, we haven't even discussed potential names yet," Ichigo pointed out softly.

"Cachorro," Grimmjow answered without any hesitation.

Ichigo blinked at the name, surprised with how quickly Grimmjow had come up with it.

"Cachorro? Does it mean anything?"

"Cub. All young are named that until they are old enough to earn a name of their own," Grimmjow explained.

"Oh. I see."

There was silence in the room for a moment, broken only by the sound of Grimmjow taking another sip of his coffee and Szayel doing something in the background.

"Won't that get confusing when the other cub is born?" Ichigo pointed out.

"We are the Alpha pair, his brat will be called Hijastro," Grimmjow snorted. "Stepchild," Grimmjow translated before Ichigo could ask.

"Oh, that is interesting," Ichigo hummed. "I don't know much about how a hollow pack works, does the pack help raise the cub?"

"Depends on the pack," Grimmjow answered. "Mine would have, but others would have seen the cub as free game."

"Are all human families the same?" Szayel questioned softly, honestly surprising Grimmjow that he had actually spoken up.

"No," Ichigo answered.

"Then why would a hollow's?" Szayel pointed out.

"If you are going to join the conversation, get your pathetic ass over here. I hate talking to someone standing behind me," Grimmjow growled annoyed.

He could practically feel Szayel stiffen in surprise behind him and had to hold back a smirk. Ichigo was looking at him in surprise too, but it quickly morphed into a look of approval.

"Well?" he growled when Szayel still hadn't moved.

Szayel slowly came around the couch, giving it a wide berth, before settling down on one of the cushions set on the floor on the opposite side of the coffee table. His eyes remained averted and his posture slumped in submission.

It was Ichigo that broke the sudden uncomfortable silence.

"Obviously not all human families are the same, but there are certain aspects that most normal families have. I guess that's what I was asking about," Ichigo started up the conversation again. "What is 'normal' for a hollow pack or family?"

"You can answer that," Grimmjow snorted, cradling his cup and taking another sip. He was not interested in explaining something like this and he had the elixir of life cradled in his hands that required his attention.

Szayel gave a small, obedient nod of his head and shifted slightly to face Ichigo.

"Packs are common in the first tier, as I am sure you have noticed most lesser hollow don't really fight each other much. Only those with greater hungers and aspirations turn cannibal. The same goes for the second tier. Only those with the hunger remain cannibal, the rest gather in large packs and generally remain in such."

"So in the first two tiers packs are fairly normal?"

"Very, entire villages actually form in the fist tier. Most of the first tier hollows don't even leave Hueco Mundo and the living world and Soul Society never hear from them. Adjucus, on the other hand, they are hunters and must continue to feed. You are familiar with hollow evolution yes?"

"Yeah, I got the run down," Ichigo confirmed.

It was clear that Ichigo was actually interested in the conversation, but even distracted a part of the teen's mind was clearly still on their young, for Ichigo's hand continued to softly run over the egg.

"Adjucus sort of have three stages. The first is fresh, when the hunger is at its strongest and the need to feed is overwhelming and desperate, for this is the most dangerous time when regression is so close. Most fresh Adjucus will not form packs, all they are capable of thinking about is feeding. Next is middle stage, at this point the hunger has curbed slightly, permitting more powerful brain functions to finally kick in. At this point packs and families start to form. This is when most will attempt to breed."

"And the top?"

"They are the ones ready to evolve into the final stage and, oddly enough, become reclusive once more. A few, like Barragan, set themselves up and lord over villages and castles. Towns do form, but usually out of those who have been 'eaten' and can no longer evolve but, at the same time, need not fear regression. Unfortunately, most of the towns and small cities were destroyed by Aizen during his search for powerful Adjucus and Vasto Lorde to turn over."

Grimmjow frowned as he noticed his cup was empty. He had tuned Szayel's explanation out but Ichigo was still clearly paying attention. However, the Alpha was not so distracted as not to notice his Beta's dilemma with the now empty cup.

Ichigo handed the egg over in exchange for the cup and headed over to the corner were he had set the coffee pot up to get more. Grimmjow was very pleased that he clearly still had his Alpha's attention despite the fact he wasn't part of the current conversation.

"I am still listening," Ichigo assured them from the coffee pot. "Do, or did, the villages frequently suffer attacks from still feeding Adjucus?"

"No, unless if it was a very small village and the Adjucus very powerful. There is a safety in numbers and any Adjucus still on the rise up would be foolish to risk his mask being cracked by taking on an entire village," Grimmjow answered that one with a snort. "Some packs might attack small villages, or even other packs, but they tend to avoid each other."

Ichigo returned to the table with three mugs, the sugar, crème, and a spoon. He handed Grimmjow his first before setting his own on the table and handed the last one to Szayel. Szayel looked at it curiously for a moment before accepting the mug and giving it a tentative sniff.

"If you find it too strong, just add some crème and sugar," Ichigo directed, adding said ingredients to his own cup. "So, these villages, were there a lot of mated pairs in them?"

"What you humans would consider Lovers, yes those kinds of relationships did arise, but only the Unbroken can actually breed. Once your mask is broken you become sterile," Szayel answered, staring at his cup curiously before finally daring a sip.

Golden eyes widened at the taste and for the first time since sitting down Szayel dared to raise his eyes higher than the coffee table to stare at them in surprise.

"Fucking good ain't it," Grimmjow smirked. "Too bad Aizen didn't serve us this shit huh?"

"It is rather interesting," Szayel admitted reluctantly.

Ichigo seemed lost in thought a bit, no doubt digesting the information, before speaking again.

"Were there any mixed packs, you know, broken and unbroken?"

"Yes," Szayel and Grimmjow answered at the same time.

Szayel flinched and bowed his head, Grimmjow just snorted. He was feeling rather laid back at the moment, what with a cup of heaven in one hand and his very soon to hatch young being stroked with the other. He hadn't felt this mellow in a very long time.

"You said you travelled with a pack for a time, your brother's, and Grimmjow already said his would have, would your pack have helped raise the young?" Ichigo questioned curiously.

Grimmjow burst into laughter, taking Ichigo by surprise while Szayel just stared at the teen incomprehensibly for a moment.

"What?" Ichigo demanded, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Dear Kami, I never figured you were so stupid as to ask the same question twice," Grimmjow managed to get out.

Ichigo didn't seem to be any closer to understanding, so Grimmjow forced himself to calm down so he could answer.

"Yylfordt Grantz was a member of _my_ pack," Grimmjow managed to get out.

Dawning lit upon Ichigo's face and he looked between the two of them in surprise.

"Then…"

"Grimmjow was once my pack Alpha," Szayel answered submissively. "For a time."

Grimmjow took a few more minutes, but he managed to get himself back under control before he risked spilling any of the coffee. He had come close in his outburst.

"You should have seen this whelp. He was the smallest runt I ever did see but Yylfordt spoke for him so I let him in. Didn't stick around for long though." He had honestly always wondered why and sent a questioning look at the other Arrancar.

"There was no place for me in your pack. Everyone was only interested in growing stronger and physical strength was never my strong suit. Nakeem and Di Roy were constantly trying to corner me for a late night snack and it got tedious, not to mention even you must admit the conversations were often less than stellar," Szayel paused and looked slightly nervous.

"There was more to it than that. You were stronger than them both and Yylfordt and Shawlong always had an eye on you, Shawlong I think because he found it relieving to speak to another intelligent being. You hovered around me a fair bit, although I often figured it was because we were much closer in size."

"Size?" Ichigo questioned, breaking into the conversation.

"Most Adjucus are actually rather large, as I am sure you have noticed. Let's say the size of an elephant for the hell of it. I was an exception, not too much bigger than say, a very large tiger. He was about the size of a lioness," Grimmjow pointed at Szayel with his cup of coffee

"My studies indicate that the stronger Adjucus often have smaller forms than the average Adjucus."

"Ah, wouldn't that make breeding, um interesting," Ichigo pointed out with a confused flush.

"Indeed," Grimmjow smirked, recalling some of the most interesting shaped Adjucus he had mated with.

He had briefly considered mating either Shawlong or Yylfordt at one point, perhaps even Edrad, but had tossed the idea aside. Szayel was right on one point; Di Roy and Nekeem had hardly been the most intelligent of beings and he wasn't interested in guarding his Beta and cubs from the two simple minded idiots. They had been the two weakest of the pack and he knew that the other three, especially Shawlong, would have kept an eye on them, but it was still a point of vulnerability.

"You are much older than I am, did you ever successfully mate?" Szayel asked him hesitantly, curiosity in his voice.

"Nah, I gave up ages ago, long before Shawlong convinced me to take over the pack, probably long before you were even born in your human life." Grimmjow blinked as something occurred to him, something he had long since forgotten. "You know, I almost considered giving you a try, what with the constant hovering, at least half decent strength, and the fact our sizes were very close that mating might have been rather interesting."

Szayel ducked his head some more and studied his coffee intently, as if seeking wisdom in the liquid filled cup. Grimmjow blinked as dawning suddenly came to him.

"Son of a bitch, is that why you hovered so damn much? You were actually _hoping_ I would mate with you?"

Szayel stiffened before giving a very meek nod of his head.

"Why? I never took you as being so weak that you would willingly offer your tail to anyone."

"I would have still made you work for it, as much as one of my level at the time could, but strength has never been my thing. As I stated before, half the pack was looking at me like its next dinner and I was really not interested in watching my back from my own… comrades. Mated to you they wouldn't have dared come after me, and I myself have never successfully laid. I recognized your strength and figured if it was anyone who had a chance….. When you didn't seem interested I decided to carry on."

"Well damn!" he muttered.

He couldn't help but to wonder how a mating between them would have turned out, before tossing the notion aside. In the end it probably wouldn't have mattered since Aizen had found them shortly after Szayel's departure and Grimmjow truly had no desire to see what kind of interest Aizen might have had in a cub, not to mention a cub in Las Noches would have been a very glaring weak point in such a blood thirsty group.

Ichigo had remained silent during their reminiscing and had a little smile on his face as he listened. It was clear the teen was enjoying this little sit down, even if he wasn't partaking in the conversation. Grimmjow took another swing of his coffee before glaring at the almost empty cup. He swore these cups were smaller than the ones Aizen use to make them drink tea out of, regardless of the fact they appeared to be the same cups.

Ichigo noticed the dilemma and moved to fix it, returning to the couch with the coffee pot in hand and topped up everyone's drinks.

"If it's not to bold to ask, how old are the two of you?" Ichigo questioned on his way back from returning to pot to the machine.

"Somewhere around four hundred," Grimmjow answered with a shrug. "Edo had just been named capitol when I crossed over."

There was little he recalled about his mortal life, but for some strange reason that fact had always remained with him, why he wasn't sure. Perhaps because he had spent time in the living world before moving over to Hueco Mundo and it was all anyone ever talked about so the memory was constantly refreshed.

"Oh, wow." Ichigo stared at him surprised. "I didn't think you were that old," the teen admitted before looking at Szayel expectantly.

"Thirty," Szayel answered very hesitantly.

Now that did take Grimmjow by surprise and both of the them stared at Szayel in amazement.

"You're shitting me! No fucking way anyone makes it to your level in thirty years," Grimmjow challenged.

Szayel flinched at the outburst, but didn't retract his statement. Ichigo, on the other hand, seemed to be thinking.

"Because of your first Alpha. You said you mated shortly after evolving and even after the failure he let you live on his lands until you grew stronger to try again. Then when you did mate the second time he would have been bringing in the food, creatures of a much higher level than you could hunt since you said he was a lot stronger than you were, thus giving you the boost." Ichigo said slowly, as if unsure of his answer.

"A well thought out hypotheses," Szayel agreed

"First Alpha?" Grimmjow muttered in surprise.

He was honestly surprised that Szayel had even had a chance to mate being so young, hell, that he was so far along on his evolution. Wait a tick, how did Ichigo know about any of that? Is that what the two of them yapped about while he was hunting?

The talk of breeding brought his thoughts back to his own young, still nestled by his side. During the conversation Szayel's eyes had drifted towards the egg, but they hadn't stayed on it long before he would force himself to look elsewhere.

This was the closest the Omega had been permitted to the egg, and probably the first real look he had gotten. The feeling of contentment hadn't abated at all; in fact Grimmjow would say he had grown even more compliant as the evening wore on and they shared small talk, drifting about the conversation until they were on their third pot of coffee.

Grimmjow noticed that Szayel's eyes were once more on the egg. He sensed nothing more than honest curiosity in that golden gaze, as well as a healthy amount of respectful fear.

"Do you want to touch it?" he questioned, taking the entire room by surprise.

Ichigo stared at him in shock for a moment before it was replaced by one of those pleased looks the teen got when Grimmjow did something that his Alpha truly approved of and appreciated.

Szayel had a completely stunned look on his face and his entire body had frozen, as if afraid to move or even breathe. Those golden eyes were looking into his own now, the first time during the evening the other Arrancar had dared to raise them higher than their laps.

"I can?" he asked hesitantly, as if unsure he had even heard the question.

"You hard of hearing or something?" he questioned with a snort.

"No… I…"

It was completely amusing to see the normally, well normal before H'tsu got to him, confident and arrogant former Espada seem so completely and utterly shocked, hesitant and lost.

Szayel bit his lip to stop his stuttering, and then slowly crawled around the table until he was sitting at their feet. Ever so slowly he reached his busted up left hand forward to touch the egg, no doubt choosing that hand because it was by far the least threatening. His entire posture remained supremely submissive and weary, ready to run at the first sign of aggression from either of them.

Ichigo was completely laid back, not at all concerned or worried and still had that little satisfied smile on his face and a look in his eye that promised Grimmjow a very pleasurable evening. Grimmjow still felt nothing more than awe and hesitation coming from Szayel, and thus remained in his rather relaxed state even as a none family member's hand made contact with the protective surface surrounding his cub.

All of them could feel the cub's budding reiatsu seek out the one touching it, as it always did when either parent was in contact with the egg. A look of pure wonder crossed Szayel's face as the cub's reiatsu tingled against his own, and more surprisingly, didn't retreat or recoil in fear or displeasure as it should have at the unknown intruder into it's space.

The bruised and broken fingers slowly rubbed along the shell for almost a full minute before reluctantly retreating.

"I… thank you," Szayel whispered. "If it is alright, I would like to retire for the evening."

"Go for it," Grimmjow snorted. "We ain't your nursemaids."

Szayel backed away from them and gathered up the now empty cups and coffee pot, retreating to the bathroom to give them a quick wash before retreating to his own cornered off den.

Ichigo and Grimmjow shared a smirk and listened intently for the sound they both knew they would hear. They were not disappointed as the furious meeting of pen on paper reached their ears, pulling a soft chuckle out of both of them.

"Ready for bed?" Ichigo questioned, although the teen hardly looked tired and the look of promise was still in his eyes.

With the egg settled carefully back in the nest, Ichigo had done a pretty fair job of setting it back up, his Alpha showed him just how pleased he was with his Beta's surprising actions this evening. He would have to be so uncharacteristically generous in the future as Ichigo had never failed to pleasure him like this when he did.

"_Shit, now he's turning me soft," _Grimmjow grouched just before he became incapable of anymore rational thought for the evening.

* * *

><p>So far I haven't thought of a name for either cub. Both terms are Spanish by the way, I like to keep the 'races' in their own language as Kubo gave them. So Spanish for the Arrancar.<p>

My baby is doing well, thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews, they really make me feel happy when all I am really feeling now a days is exhausted. Writing is becoming one hell of a chore as I just don't have the energy to do anything and I am not sleeping well at night thanks to a dozen pinched nerves all over my body, compliments of pregnancy :(

Stay tuned for the next chapter, where the cub finally hatches.


	25. Hatched

Hatched

When Grimmjow woke up the next afternoon he still felt content and had little desire to move, so he didn't bother. He had been feeding well lately and there really was no reason to move about and waste energy.

Ichigo did get up and was ever so kind as to bring him a cup of wonderful coffee before settling down at the table to continue working on his homework. Szayel joined him when Ichigo called him over to help with one of his questions and the two worked away at the homework for some time.

Grimmjow found it didn't bother him at all to see the two of them working together. Szayel was keeping his submissive posture and sat away from Ichigo like a good little Omega and even got up to refill their coffee mugs and make another pot when the current one got low.

Szayel approached him slowly with the pot the first several deliveries, weary for any signs of aggression from the stronger Arrancar, but Grimmjow was still feeling mellow and his Instincts had fully accepted the Omega into the pack. He felt no threat from Szayel at all, in fact Szayel's own young had him so drained it was a wonder anyone could sense him at all!

He drifted off to sleep and woke up sporadically, still with no desire to move and he could tell Ichigo was starting to become concerned, especially as the week came to a close and he had yet to move to either hunt or bathe and had no desire for sexual attention. Since the initial mating they had done so almost nightly, but now he simply wasn't interested.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Ichigo questioned concerned.

"I am fine Kurosaki," Grimmjow assured him sleepily, nuzzling the egg and watching satisfied as it rocked.

"But you haven't moved in days!"

"Indeed," Grimmjow agreed.

"For sure nothing is wrong with him?" Ichigo questioned, looking over to the only other expert in the room.

"He won't move until after the cub hatches, which should be very soon here," Szayel answered. "A few days at the most. He does need to eat though," Szayel frowned.

They were getting dangerously low on food packets, especially now that there were two of them. Szayel had already directed them to another stash, but that was being quickly consumed by the impregnated Arrancar. Like Grimmjow had, Szayel ate a good three to six packets a day.

"The cub is going to need fresh meat," Grimmjow pointed out, looking at Ichigo pointedly.

The teen scowled before sighing and getting that determined look on his face that Grimmjow had once so despised. With out another word, Ichigo pulled on the reiatsu concealing cloak and left with a promise to be back and to get along.

Grimmjow just nestled into his nest more comfortably around his young and dozed off again, leaving the only sound that of Szayel writing away in his book, no doubt recording his rather docile behaviour, and it was docile. Even though he knew that he was acting out of sorts, Grimmjow just couldn't bring himself to care. All that mattered was the egg he was wrapped around and the cub that would soon emerge.

He was so close to finally succeeding! He wondered how the cub was going to look. Would it be humanoid? Panther like? Maybe something more along the lines of Ichigo's hollification? A combination? Something completely new? He had no idea what to expect.

"Hay Szayel?" he called.

The sound of pen over paper ceased immediately. It was rare that he bothered to address the other Arrancar directly without Ichigo there to start the conversation.

"Yes?" Szayel questioned hesitantly.

"What do you think the cub is going to look like?"

"I have a few hypothesis, but this will be the first Arrancar cub, so there is no way of knowing without doing an ultrasound."

Grimmjow frowned, unfamiliar with the word.

"A what?"

"An ultrasound. We would have to go to my lab to do one since that is where the equipment is, and it is far too large to bring up here."

He may have been feeling mellowed out, but he was not so out of it to be crazy enough to go to the lab. He had no desire to leave his nest and not even the chance to see his young a day or two early could change that.

The conversation ended there and Szayel didn't bother to try and pick it up again. Instead the sound of pen over paper once more filled the silent room.

Ichigo had tried to mentally prepare himself for this eventuality, but it didn't make the idea of it any easier. This was no deer he was going to kill, this was another thinking creature that had once been human. Yes he had defeated many hollows in the past, but he had never deliberately gone looking for one to kill so his partner could eat it. The thought did not sit well with him. It was too close to murder for his comfort.

It was one thing to hunt something it was another thing to defend himself and others. It was Zangetsu who had helped solve his moral dilemma by simply suggesting that they just don't hunt, or rather they will, but not for food. Instead, he set his mind to the task of finding any trace of Nel and her 'brothers,' and if a dumb ass Adjucus just happens to jump him on the hunt, than so be it. At least it was killing in self defence.

He didn't get much search time in, for his ploy worked a little too well and he had to drag back three carcasses in under an hour. Two was going to be difficult to manage, but three was just crazy. He pulled the cloak back on quickly after the third jumped him.

"_We never saw this much action when we came after Orihime,"_ he grouched.

"_The powerful reiatsu from the Arrancar and Shinigami residing in Las Noches would have driven most of them away," _Zangetsu pointed out.

"_**And my pet needs remarking," **_H'tsu added.

Ichigo's scowl deepened as he trudged back to the den with the three, large corpses. It was not easy dragging them through the sand and he was leaving behind one hell of a trail.

"_Stash them," _Zangetsu suggested, sharing with him the image of finding the corpses in the pantries.

It was a good idea, and who knew how much the cub would eat. The pantries were also a fair distance from the den and if the corpses he had found were left in there for that long undisturbed, than the new one should be fine.

He stashed two and brought the smaller of the three back to the den, making damn sure he wasn't leaving a trail of anything behind him, be it blood or other fluids. When he arrived it almost felt like he hadn't even left. Grimmjow was still curled up in the nest around the egg and Szayel was sitting at the table writing in his book. It was at least nice to see the two Arrancar getting along.

"You are back quickly," Grimmjow noted.

Both Arrancar had their eyes on the corpse, the hunger barely suppressed.

"Yeah, I had three of them jump me within an hour," he sighed, dropping the corpse a fair distance from the nest.

"My apologies, it is my fault," Szayel whispered submissively, eyes caste to the side.

"Fuck it, it's a good thing," Grimmjow snorted, but still made no motion to leave the nest.

Ichigo held back a sigh of frustration and crawled into the nest himself, forcing his own body between that of his Beta and the egg and not letting Grimmjow take a centimetre back from him.

"Eat!" he ordered sternly. "Before you become too useless to defend the cub when it is born," he added. "And you are NOT eating in bed where the nest will get spoiled with blood and other shit," he said firmly when Grimmjow opened his mouth to argue.

Golden tinted brown bore relentlessly into deep blue before Grimmjow dropped the gaze and finally abandoned the nest to eat.

"And shower when your done," Ichigo added sternly.

Grimmjow muttered something under his breath that Ichigo didn't quite catch, but he had a feeling it involved a large number of swear words and other insults. Grimmjow ate most of the meal before marching off into the bathroom, the sound of running water coming shortly after.

Szayel had remained still and was trying not to eye the remains too intently, but he was failing miserably. His eyes kept drifting to Ichigo hopefully before going back to the mangled corpse.

"Eat," Ichigo sighed. He really had no desire to stare at the damn mutilated thing.

Szayel needed no second prompting, but he still moved cautiously over, weary for any signs of aggression before settling in to finish off the corpse. By the time he was done there was nothing left to even indicate a corpse had been there.

Grimmjow returned, his hair wet and smelling of the various cleaners used to wash himself. Satisfied, Ichigo let him back into the nest to nestle once more around the egg. If Grimmjow even noticed the rest of his meal had been consumed, he obviously didn't care for he made no mention of it.

"If you don't want a horde of hollows breaking down our door, I suggest you let H'tsu out to fuck him before his scent spread too strong and far," Grimmjow grunted after almost an hour of silence.

Ichigo sighed at Grimmjow's bluntness, and Szayel stiffened at the comment, his pen frozen in mid stroke. They all remained still like that for a moment before Szayel finally let out a weary sigh and set the pen down.

"Grimmjow is right, especially with the cub so soon to hatch. It is not worth the risk," Szayel whispered softly.

Szayel's words agreed with Grimmjow's statement, but his body was clearly of a different mind. H'tsu was purring his own pleasure in Ichigo's mind and the only thing keeping Ichigo cool was Zangetsu's reminder to remain steady on the course, to do what must be done.

He gave a nod of his head and summoned H'tsu. The hollow ignored the two in the nest and settled those violent golden eyes onto his suddenly trembling Beta.

"**Hello my pretty little pet," **H'tsu purred happily. **"Come along, I do believe you were looking forward to repaying me for my favour, no?"** H'tsu questioned in a way that strongly suggest Szayel answer in the positive.

Szayel merely gave a meek nod of his head and slinked along to his nest, his entire posture as meek and small as it could possibly be. H'tsu followed with a wide smirk of satisfaction.

"H'tsu," Ichigo called before his hollow could also disappear through the curtains.

"**Yes?" **H'tsu ground out.

"You mess this up and I won't let you out again," Ichigo said firmly, gold tinted brown boring into pure golden, letting his hollow know just how serious he was about this. Beside him Grimmjow was doing the same, blue eyes a match for his Alpha as the two of them silently let H'tsu know that neither of them would broker any violence against the pack Omega.

"**Tshu," **H'tsu snarled, breaking their gazes and disappearing through the curtains.

An hour later Ichigo's hollow returned to his soul and Szayel emerged from his nest to bathe, looking no worse for wear and sporting only the normal lacerations mating hollows tended to bear. H'tsu's memories also showed no violence had been done this time and Ichigo had to hold back a blush as the images of just how Szayel had 'thanked his Alpha' was burned into his memory.

Szayel still slinked along the wall to the bathroom, but Ichigo spotted no anomaly in the way he moved to indicate hidden injures and he was still confident enough not to degrade to the point of asking permission to do something. When the scientist did emerge after his shower he went back to the table to continue working on his notes, the only sign anything had happened was the very defeated and meek posture he adopted and the new, shallow lacerations covering his body.

Ichigo just shook his head and settled down more comfortably around Grimmjow and their cub. The budding reiatsu from their cub was becoming fairly active and the egg rocked a fair bit nowadays. Grimmjow gave off a content growl as the egg rocked against him before settling down and the budding reiatsu evened out, a sure sign the cub was sleeping once more.

(POV)

"Cardiovascular," Ichigo answered, fairly positive in his answer.

"Correct." Szayel offered him a pleased smile of satisfaction. "Next question: Which primary artery emerges from the..."

Crack!

The sound caused everyone in the room to jump and all eyes darted towards the nest. Grimmjow was still wrapped around the egg, but he had back off slightly, his blue gaze intent on the rocking egg.

Crack!

Ichigo was back in the nest in an instant, his homework forgotten as his eyes remained intent on the small fractures showing in the shell. In the background Szayel was also watching intently, his own notebooks forgotten as the Omega belly crawled slowly towards the nest, weary for any signs from the Alpha pair that he had come too close, but unable to fight his own nature to get closer. He stopped at the edge of the nest, laying down and watching intently as the egg rocked.

Crack! Crack!

The lines increased and the egg rocked some more. It paused for a moment and a plaintive mew could be heard coming from within the shell. Both expecting parents made a motion to move forwards before stopping themselves. The cub would have to hatch on it's own.

"Come on little one," Ichigo whispered, being the first to dare speak. "Come on, You can do it."

Another little mew and the shell rocked some more, the cracks spreading and widening until a grey, fur covered paw broke through one section.

"That's my cub, almost there now," Grimmjow smirked.

Another paw broke through, creating a nice, large hole in the side of the egg. The paws disappeared back into the shell to be replaced by the head and arms of the cub as it wriggled its way out of the egg, causing the hole to widen and large fragments of the shell to break away. Finally the cub tumbled out to land in the nest and started to mew desperately as it looked around for its parents.

"Wow, he, or she, looks just like a normal kitten," Ichigo stated in surprise.

The cub more or less did look like a normal kitten, covered in soft grey fur. It was about the size of a newborn tiger's cub, but unlike most cubs this ones eyes were open and looking around. There was one small difference from a normal cub, the forelegs looked slightly off and the front paws had elongated fingers and a clear, opposable thumb. Golden eyes continued to scan for it's parents.

"The meat," Grimmjow ordered, moving to close the small distance between himself and their cub.

"Right."

Ichigo abandoned the nest to return with several strips of meat they had saved from the last kill specifically for feeding the cub, already chopped into small, bite sized pieces. He tried to offer the cub one of the pieces, but it was ignored while the cub continued to mew and look around.

"A boy," Grimmjow noted in pleasure as he lifted the cubs tail to check.

"He's not eating," Ichigo noted concerned. "Come on, it's right here," he tried to coax.

The meat was completely ignored, no matter what Ichigo did to try and get the cub interested in it, he simply wasn't. The cub abandoned his parents sides and stumbled about the nest, still mewing pathetically and sniffing the air.

"Maybe he just wants to explore," Ichigo suggested hopefully, but it still came out with a strong undercurrent of concern.

The cub stumbled to the edge of the nest before rolling down a pillow to bump up along side the only other adult in the room, who completely froze as the soft fur tickled his stomach.

Neither parent had noticed him laying there until now and the displeased gaze and reiatsu of Grimmjow fell upon him while Ichigo seemed far less annoyed at his intrusion. The cub didn't notice any of the adults interplay and simply travelled up the body it had stumbled across before stopping at his chest and latching onto a nipple before it began to suckle contently.

Silence filled the entire room.

"What the fuck!" Grimmjow snarled as he rose to his feet and marched over to the now cowered Omega.

Szayel wanted to move, boy did he want to move, to flee and run from the enraged parent, but he didn't dare move to disturb the cub feeding from him and had to settle for displaying his throat and rolling partially onto his back to show his stomach. He let out a whimper and shivered in fright, honestly expecting his life to come to a very sudden and bloody end.

"Grimmjow wait," Ichigo stumbled after his enraged mate, grabbing him before he could do something drastic. "I thought you said hollows didn't breast feed?"

"They don't," Grimmjow snarled. "They can't, not unless they….." Grimmjow bit his sentence off as his rage was completely replaced by shock. "You! You are a fucking Natural Born Beta, aren't you? That's why you were so eager to offer me your tail years ago, that's why you adapted so damn quickly into your roll as an Omega, despite what H'tsu did to you. That's why my Instincts didn't go completely ape shit when Ichigo dragged your sorry ass home and why they adapted to your presence so damn easily."

Szayel gave a very slow and meek nod of his head.

"You never mentioned this part to me," Ichigo frowned at the still frozen and cowering Omega.

"You knew!" Grimmjow rounded on him.

"He told me," Ichigo shrugged. "I didn't think too much of it."

Grimmjow just stared at him with a stunned expression on his face before given his head a shake to clear it.

"I keep forgetting you are not one of us," he muttered. "Look, any Natural Born Beta is completely safe to leave unguarded in a den with cubs. They couldn't kill one if their life depended on it. They are about the ONLY hollow that would adopt a cub if found. You could have saved my Instincts a hell of a ride if you had told me what he was, if either of you had fessed up," he snarled, turning his attention to the still cowering Omega. "You at least should have known better," he growled at Szayel, who flinched.

"Oh," Ichigo blushed in embarrassment.

"I thought you knew," Szayel whispered meekly.

The cub finished nursing and let out a content mew. Ichigo bent down to retrieve his son, cradling him in his arms and marvelling at how soft the fur was. It was hard to comprehend that this creature was his child, but right now it didn't matter. All he saw was a small creature that needed him.

"Do you think his inability to eat meat might be from my human side?" Ichigo questioned. "Human's need milk for some time."

"It could be an Arrancar thing. We have become more like Shinigami, and their young are similar to humans. As Arrancar we have once more developed separate sexual identities and most interest tend towards female and male pairings." Szayel pointed out meekly, not moving a hair from his submissive position.

"Perhaps," Grimmjow grunted.

He had noticed an increase in his own sexual desires around some of the woman, but had not been interested in giving himself any glaring weak points for others to assault. After a moment Ichigo handed the cub over, given him the chance to hold his first successful offspring. Nothing else suddenly mattered, not the cringing Omega cowering at his feet or the fact his cub was seemingly unable to eat real food.

"Well, I guess we wont know how much is my genetic mix up and how much is going to be typical for Arrancar young until your own cub hatches," Ichigo noted.

Grimmjow returned to the centre of the nest and sat down, settling his cub in his lap and stroking the surprisingly soft fur. The cub gave off a pleased mew and settled more comfortably on his lap before giving off a near fangless yawn and falling asleep.

Szayel finally dared to move, rolling slowly onto his stomach to slink away back to his own nest.

"Stop right there," Grimmjow growled warningly.

Szayel froze once more in a rather amusing and overbalanced position that brought an amused smirk to Grimmjow's lips.

"Get your ass back here. Right now you are the only one capable of feeding my cub, and if you value your continued existence, you will continue to do so," he ordered sternly.

Szayel returned to his position at the edge of the nest, shivering slightly but making no form of verbal protest.

Ichigo should have found the situation exasperating, but for some odd reason it came across amusing instead and he had to force back a chuckle. Szayel was all but vibrating and Ichigo severely doubted it was from fear. Taking pity on the poor scientist, Ichigo retrieved the second and still empty third book before returning with both of them and a pen.

Szayel sent him a very appreciative look and all but snatched the three items from his hands before opening the third, empty book and began to fill it in at an almost frantic pace.

Now that everything was calming down, Ichigo's own doctoral trained nature was kicking in. He grabbed the stethoscope, some of his own blank papers, and a few other odds and ends they had retrieved from Szayel's lab over the last few days, such as a weigh scale and small flashlight. A thermometer had already been included in the first aid kit and he made sure to grab that too.

He was loathed to disturb the sleeping cub, but if his child was anything like a normal kitten it would probably sleep through the entire examination anyway. It wasn't like they could do any blood work or anything without going down to the lab.

Ichigo cleared a spot down to the floor so he could set the scale down evenly and started with listening to his son's heart rate.

"What is it at?" Szayel questioned.

Ichigo held up a hand to stall him and continued to listen contently, but made sure to keep the count going.

"148," he answered. "Steady and strong," he added. He checked over the cubs body, running his hands along every inch of the cub. "I don't feel anything abnormal or unusual, other than the front paws are un-webbed and rather finger like, complete with opposable thumbs. Retractable claws on all toes and fingers."

He picked the cub up and set it on the scale. His son gave off a little mew of protest at being disturbed, but otherwise remained asleep.

"Weight, 1.9lbs. We already know his eyes are golden, but we should let him sleep for now and check pupil responses later. It was clear he could see as he found his way to you easily enough. I would feel more confident if I knew what his normal stats should be." Ichigo sighed as he jolted down the information on his sheets of paper.

"So far the stats are normal for cubs of his size," Szayel assured him.

Grimmjow had shifted to his side during the weighing so Ichigo set the cub down beside him. The cub gave another little mew of complaint before nestling up beside Grimmjow and continued to slumber peacefully, one of his back paws twitching slightly as he did so.

"Fur is a soft smoky grey colour, darkening around the paws and tip of the tail. Nose is black and clear of any fluids. Ears are clean, we can check his hearing responsiveness when he wakes up."

"Enough!" Grimmjow suddenly growled in annoyance. "He's fine. Leave him be to slumber."

Szayel opened his mouth to protest, before closing it quickly with an almost audible snap. Ichigo looked embarrassed before setting everything aside out of the way and curling up behind his mate.

Silence descended over the room, minus the scratching of Szayel's pen on the paper but that had become such a common noise by now that no one really noticed it anymore.

* * *

><p>Huge loves to all of you that reviewed and welcome to the new readers.<p>

Now that was a twist I hadn't originally intended, but the thought of it was just too damn amusing to pass up. After all, Mr. Perfect Being should be able to handle any situation neh? I would honestly not be surprise to discover Szayel was actually a Hermaphrodite, either Basic (having both parts) or Sequential (changing from one gender to another based on environment), as opposed to just plain male or female After all a perfect being should be able to reproduce in almost any environment and care for the young right?

This is the last pre written chapter, although I do got some of the next chapter done up. I am not sure when the next chapter will finish and go up. Depends on my wrists (which are degrading quickly), sleepiness and baby co-operating.

I am 22 weeks along now, 18 more to go. I spend more time on the toilet than I do on the couch and I only get Acid Reflux if I let my stomach get empty. As long as I snack all day all is good, which results in siting on the toilet all day, lol.


	26. Cub

Cub

Cachorro slept peacefully curled up against him, the soft fur warm against his own bare skin. The only one in the entire room wearing clothing was Ichigo, and that was only his boxers since the teen still had a hard time with open nudity now that they were no longer the only residents.

Grimmjow was completely pleased as he watched Cachorro slumber; his first cub nestle against him healthy and hale. Healthy and hale only because of the sheer damn coincidence of the other Arrancar not only being here, but a Kami damned Natural Born Beta. Something must have been looking out for them because he had no idea how he would have handled watching his cub starve to death because it couldn't eat meat. It had never even crossed his mind that his child would be incapable of consuming solids.

"_If that had been the case, than Ichigo's nutcase Shinigami friend would have probably though__t__ something up quick enough,"_ he told himself reassuringly.

With his reiatsu back to normal it would have been nothing to rush the cub back to the living world. Ichigo also had some powdered milk for his own consumption and that might have worked as well. They could test the theory out latter assuming they could find something for the cub to drink from.

His eyes shifted over to Szayel, who had obediently bedded down on the very edge of the nest as ordered and continued to write away in his books. He had never suspected for a moment that Szayel was a Natural Beta, although in hind sight the clues were fairly obvious. He was far more submissive than any true member of his previous pack, granted none of them had been 'trained' by a violent Alpha like H'tsu and that had thrown him off the scent. It also explained why he had always remained so reclusive from the rest of the Espada.

If any of them had shown an interest in mating than he had no doubt that Szayel would have submitted, and a weakened Espada, mate or no mate, was fair game for others hoping to rise in power and take his, or her, place and Szayel had made a lot of enemies that would have been more than pleased to take him down. One or two of the older Espada might have figured out what he was, but again a mate and cub was a weakness and no one was foolish enough to give themselves such a weakness.

Cachorro started to stir, shifting about and giving off a large yawn that revealed four, tinny fangs just beginning to grow. He couldn't help but to wonder if those fangs were going to be uncomfortable for Szayel.

Szayel immediately stopped writing as soon as the cub stirred. Cachorro yawned and stretched before giving off a mew and looking around hungrily. Ichigo moved to scoop his son up before Cachorro could wander anywhere to administer the last few test.

"Eyes are definitely responsive and so are his ears," the teen noted satisfied before setting his cub back down.

Cachorro sniffed the air and let out another mew before waddling towards the edge of the nest, stumbling on the uneven surface and pulling a chuckle out of his watching parents. Szayel shifted onto his side and, just like before, the cub slid down a pillow to collide with his stomach before crawling his way up to feed.

It gave him an odd feeling watching his cub feed from another, but at least it wasn't a violent feeling. Many species that had multiple feeding females would feed any cub in the pack that asked for food, or even adopt an abandoned cub. It was simple, maternal instinct. Szayel remained in his submissive position as the cub fed, throat and stomach bared to the Alpha pair even though both of them seemed perfectly content to watch their cub feed without any signs of aggression.

With Szayel pinned down by a mere cub, Grimmjow swooped down to grab the two books the scientist had been working in. Szayel looked up at him pathetically, but didn't protest as he started to flip through the two books.

"Huh," he grunted as he stared at one of the pages that didn't have a single kanji on it, even though the page was full of ink. "Do I really look that pathetic?" he demanded, handing the book over to Ichigo.

"Just about," the teen smirked at him as he looked at the rather well done drawing of the two of them curled up around the egg.

"Bull shit," Grimmjow grunted.

No way in hell he looked that content when sleeping but Ichigo's hint of a smirk indicated otherwise. Fucking hell no wonder his Alpha was so comfortable with him. He already knew Ichigo looked like he was scowling most of the time when sleeping, which he attributed to the teens dreams. For such a young brat he had more emotional baggage and had seen more shit than any dozen hollows put together.

Ichigo took the third book from him, leaving him to flip through the second. As he had predicted, the third book was solo about the cub while the second one continued with the mating observations, mostly Szayel's own experiences but a good amount was devoted to himself and Ichigo regarding their interactions with each other and their outlook on the pack Omega. It was strange seeing himself from another prospective and he snapped the book shut.

"What's the point of this shit anyway?" Grimmjow grunted, handing the book back.

Cachorro had finished feeding and was stumbling his way about the nest, exploring the landscape of pillow mountains and blanket crags, more often than not ending up tail over rump as he tumbled down the larger 'mountains.' Every once in a while he gave off a mew before continuing his explorations of the nests.

"Documentation," Szayel answered, shifting once more so he was laying comfortably on his side without his neck and stomach displayed. "It is good to have records for future references."

"Because there are so many of us left," Grimmjow grunted.

"I highly doubt everyone was killed. I am fairly positive many took off for the safety of the desert during the invasion, and should some unforeseen misfortune full upon us before we could share our knowledge with our young, at least there will be written documentation for them to peruse to know what is standard and what is not," Szayel pointed out.

"Urahara-san is definitely going to be interested in this stuff, and the same could possibly be said of the other Vizard. They are half breeds like me and there is no telling if they can't also breed like this, not that I know where they are anymore but Urahara-san might," Ichigo shrugged.

"Whatever."

Ichigo continued to glance through the book containing Cachorro's information with clear interest. There wasn't much in it as of yet and the teen was clearly torn about something before just sighing and closing the book, handing it back.

"I am suppose to be home in three days. My family is going to want to meet Cachorro and I got mid terms I need to write. We were going to return to the living world, but what sort of effect will it have on you and your own forming cub?" Ichigo questioned concerned.

"If it is only a few days I should be completely fine provided I have an adequate supply of food," Szayel answered. "Just do not expect me to open the Garganta or make the path."

Any further conversation was cut off by a heart full mew from Cachorro as he stumbled down a rather high incline and slid down to land in a gangly heap at the bottom of the pillow slide. A chuckle was forced out of the watching adults as Cachorro stumbled back up the pillow so he could slid down it again with another pleased mew, landing once more in a gangly heap at the bottom.

"Since I know how much you hate it, and we are going to need a good supply to feed to of us, I am going to go round up something to eat that will last us a few days. That and I seriously need to stretch," Grimmjow grunted.

"Hay, I couldn't pry you from the nest if the world was ending, so you got no sympathy from me," Ichigo pointed out.

"I can't wait until it's your turn," Grimmjow smirked as he pulled on his clothing to go hunting.

"In your dreams," Ichigo and H'tsu said at the same time, although only Ichigo heard his hollow's remark.

"You have no idea," Grimmjow's smirk widened before he disappeared out of the door.

Ichigo chuckled and turned his attention back to his son, who was starting to wear out and was now stumbling his way towards his father, mewing softly for attention. Ichigo picked him up, still honestly surprised by just how soft his son's fur was; hell that this strange and rather adorably creature was his offspring was a bit shocking to wrap his mind around.

"I wonder if he would be alright drinking baby formula, or even the powdered milk," Ichigo mused.

"There is no reiatsu nor anti bodies in either," Szayel pointed out rather quickly and rather defensively.

"You don't mind feeding him?" Ichigo questioned curiously.

"No," Szayel was quick to assure him before blushing in embarrassment over his outburst. "I do not mind caring for him at all. It is wonderful to have first hand experience with the very first Arrancar child," he admitted. "I must admit though, that I can not wait for my own Cub to arrive. And yet, I am happy to be the second one expecting. At least by the time my cub hatches we will have a base line to work from and hopefully get most of the stumbling out of the way."

"Nice to knew we can continue to be your guinea pigs _without_ the needles, drugs and straps," Ichigo chuckled.

"I... apologize for that," Szayel admitted softly.

"Forget it. If I held a grudge against everyone who ever held a blade, or needle, against me I wouldn't have much in the way of friends," Ichigo chuckled. "Karin actually once asked if all boys beat each other into a bloody pulp first before becoming friends."

"It does seem to be a running theme with hot headed men," Szayel agreed. "Although I can honestly admit I fail to notice such a pattern in my own life."

"Maybe there is hope for the male species yet."

"Perhaps," Szayel agreed.

Ichigo settled down at the table with a yawning Cachorro curling up in his lap. With a heavy sigh the teen flipped open one of his book and began the studious tasks of studying for his exams. Szayal joined him after the Arrancar finished catching his own journals up to assist him with the topics the scientist was very familiar with.

Hunting was a little slim today, no surprise since H'tsu had refreshed Szayel's markers so the very effect lure was no longer working, but there were always fools around ready to present themselves as a quick meal if one knew how to hunt right, and Grimmjow was a very effective hunter. A controlled release of his own Reiatsu into the atmosphere and they came running right into his waiting fangs and claws.

He thought he felt another Arrancar or two at one point, but after investigating the area no one was around and the only tracks in the sand belonged to a snake like creature, clearly not an Arrancar. He was honestly surprised to discover he was somewhat disappointed.

Having spent months alone with nothing to look forwards to other than his sparring with Ichigo had brought home just how lonely he had been, and now that he had a growing pack once again he felt that desperate need for companionship. Okay, maybe he just wanted other people he could brag about his cub to, but that was beside the point.

Ah, his cub. He couldn't wait to bring Cachorro out so he could teach him how to hunt. With the strange mix up of blood lines his son had there was no telling how long it was going to take before his son could actively hunt. Still, there was no reason he couldn't start early. Cachorro could already walk at least and did have claws, small though they were.

He turned his prey from bigger fish to something much smaller and scanned the sands. The creatures existed, but they were so small that the natural reiatsu in the air tended to cloak them. One had to be extremely sensitive, a very good hunter, and get damn lucky to find one. Fortunately, he was both sensitive and a damn good hunter, so that just left luck.

He was just heading back home, four carcasses in tow that should help feed them for a little bit at least and he could hunt up more in the next few days, when he finally spotted one. More accurately, he spotted the sand shift ever so slightly. He dropped the carcases and watched intently, focusing all of his sensing abilities to that area.

There!

His smirk widened as he pounced, capturing the squirming creature with ease.

(TIME)

"I am back," Grimmjow called as he entered the room, one corpse tossed over his shoulder and a small box in hand.

Cachorro let out a loud mew at the sound of his voice and tumbled his way out of Ichigo's lap and towards him, tripping and going head over tail in a somersault before scrambling back to his paws and continuing on his journey, letting out several more mews and slipping a few more times on the floor as he did so.

"Hay brat," Grimmjow dropped the corpse and scoped his son up.

Ichigo remained by the table he had been sitting at, but did look up to offer him a smile, homework momentarily forgotten.

"I trust hunting went well?"

"Yeah, yeah, stashed a few corpses in that cubby you found and brought one back for the nursemaid. Hurry up and eat that shit already, if you are going to feed my boy you had better keep your own strength up," Grimmjow ordered, turning his attention to Szayel.

Szayel looked at him in surprise at having not only been addressed, but being offered food. He didn't seem to mind the nick name, or perhaps he simply wasn't foolish enough to speak up about it, and made no protest about begin referred to as a nursemaid.

"What of you?" Ichigo questioned concerned.

"I ate during the hunt, I am fine," Grimmjow waved the concern away as he sat down next to Ichigo, settling Cachorro in his lap and stroking the soft fur, much to his son's obvious delight.

Szayel had moved over to the corpse, leaving the family alone at the table as he settled in to eat the offered meal with a considerable less amount of hesitation than he usually employed. Ichigo filched slightly at the noise of bone cracking, but otherwise seemed to be getting use to the Arrancar's eating habits.

"How long are we going to be stuck in the Living World?" Grimmjow questioned.

"I don't know, at least a week or so. I have to write my exams and get the next course load. I am lucky I have such an understanding teacher because I really should not be missing so much class. I would sooner stay there if possible but if it gets too uncomfortable for Cachorro to live there, not to mention Szayel and his impending child, than I guess we will have no choice but to return here, or have you two return first and I will follow once I can."

"The two of us alone and unsupervised?" Grimmjow chuckled with a feral smirk.

"Har har," Ichigo laughed dryly. "I know you too well to think for a second you would attack someone in such a condition, let alone a harmless egg or cub."

"Touche,"

"Dear Kami, how on earth are we even going to explain his presence, let along what happened," Ichigo suddenly groaned in frustration as if the thought had just occurred to him that he was going to have to let his family and friends know about Szayel's presence and state.

"What's the worry? The cub ain't yours," Grimmjow pointed out, recalling that humans generally shared a monogamy type relationship.

"Technically it is. H'tsu is a part of me and if I hadn't let him run free it wouldn't have happened. Either way you look at it I am responsible for that cub as much as I am for Cachorro."

Grimmjow snorted in disbelief, but didn't argue the point. Ichigo was just that kind of person and, horribly, it was starting to rub off on him as well. Besides, it would be worth keeping the nursemaid around for future offspring, and Grimmjow was damn certain there would be more offspring if he had anything to say about it.

He glanced back over at Szayel, who was just finishing up his meal. This version of Szayel he could deal with and he made a mental note to thank H'tsu, preferably when Ichigo was incapable of hearing it, for bringing the arrogant bastard down a dozen notches or so.

Perhaps Szayel's continued more docile behaviour was because he was mated now, perhaps because they were once more functioning as a proper pack instead of a part of Aizen's messed up little city state. Whatever the reason it was nice to get back to basics and not be expected to live up to some twisted Shinigami bastard idea of what a group of aggressive hollows should act like.

Szayel finished eating and cleaning up and rejoined them, sitting on the other side of the table and returning to writing in his journal. While his posture was submissive, it was also confident and he didn't look like he was ready to bolt or cringe at the slightest unexpected noise. It was a surprising relief from the terrified animal Ichigo had originally dragged home.

"What is in the box anyway? More coffee?" Ichigo questioned curiously when they were all settled.

"Nah, something for Cachorro to play with," Grimmjow smirked, setting their son down and grabbing the box. "Cachorro."

Their son looked up at him curiously. Grimmjow opened the box and took something out, setting it down on the floor beside their offspring.

Cachorro stared at the lizard, the lizard stared back. Both blinked.

"Oh wow, you found one," Ichigo chuckled, picking the docile little lizard up to examine it.

The lizard flicked it's tongue out but otherwise seemed to remain completely calm despite being held by the teen.

"That's for Cachorro to play with, not you," Grimmjow grunted, taking the lizard out of Ichigo's hands and once more setting it on the floor before their son.

Once more cub and lizard just stared at each other before Cachorro seemed to lose interest and made his way back to Ichigo's lap to curl up, lizard completely forgotten. Grimmjow sighed in frustration and gathered the docile creature back up before returning it to its box.

"Don't worry about it," Ichigo smiled at him. " I am sure once Cachorro is older he will be more than happy to chase it around."

"Don't patronize me Kurosaki," Grimmjow growled as he stormed off to shower.

"I can think of a dozen other things to do to you," Ichigo called back with a smirk.

Grimmjow tossed him a glare over his shoulder before disappearing into the bathroom. Cachorro simply yawned cutely, flicked his ear a few times, and slipped back off into slumber.

(POV)

When evening fell Szayel once again found himself curled up to rest at the edge of the Alpha pairs nests. A part of him missed how own nest, but the majority of him was more pleased to be here, so close to Cachorro and what was essentially under the protective reiatsu wings of his own Alpha. As Ichigo had stated earlier, H'tsu and Ichigo were technically the same person, even as they were different, and Szayel's instincts had no problem accepted the teen as not only his pack Alpha, but as his mated Alpha as well.

It was actually a pretty big honour to be permitted near the main nest, not to mention the Alpha pairs cub. He had expected and predicted a lot of things about what would happen when Cachorro hatched, but this hadn't been one of them.

He knew Grimmjow would be unable to feed the cub as he could, but he had never expected Cachorro to be incapable of, and uninterested, in consuming solids. It was a relief to know he would be able to feed his own cub when it hatched. He hadn't been lying to Ichigo when he said it was nice to be the second one expecting instead of the first, granted he had expected to feed his cub since he essentially had no reliable Alpha to hunt for him.

He drifted off to slumber and was awoken by something soft and warm colliding with his stomach. Cachorro seemed to enjoy tumbling down the pillows and he cracked his eyes open to see the cub squirm his way up to feed.

Grimmjow was apparently still asleep but he could tell Ichigo was awake. The fact the more aggressive of the Alpha pair was slumbering didn't stop him from shifting into the throat and stomach bared position expected of an Omega while Cachorro fed.

"Why do you do that? It can't possibly be comfortably," Ichigo questioned quietly so as not to disturb his mate.

"Instinct," Szayel answered just as softy. "It is expected of me to behave this way and not to is to invite trouble. We may no longer be Adjucus, but we are still hollows," he hesitated before adding the last, "and H'tsu is not done with me yet. It would be foolish to arise his ire by acting insubordinate."

Ichigo frowned and opened his mouth to say something before closing it, his eyes going unfocused for a moment and his head cocking to the side as if listening to something far off in the distance. No doubt H'tsu, or possibly Zangetsu, was adding their own yen to the conversation.

"I suppose," Ichigo sighed, shaking his head slightly.

Cachorro finished feeding and returned to his Sire before yawning and settling into slumber again. Szayel drifted off once more and was awoken again when Cachorro grew hungry. Ichigo was the one awake the second time and the two shared brief conversation about hollow pack behaviors before drifting off. The third time Cachorro disturbed him it was Grimmjow who was awake and Ichigo who was snoring softly.

He felt increasingly uncomfortable under the scrutinizing blue gaze of the Beta as Cachorro nursed contently, completely unaware of anything other than his meal. When the cub finished he stumbled his way back to his parents, curling up and slipping back into slumber.

Szayel remained in his submissive position, even after Cachorro had left his side. Grimmjow was still staring at him rather intently and it was really starting to make him uncomfortable.

"What are you going to do after Hijastro hatches?" Grimmjow questioned.

The question took him by complete surprise.

"I haven't really thought about it too much," he answered as honestly as he could.

Grimmjow gave off a snort of disbelief.

"You not having at least six contingency plans, I find that impossible to swallow."

"I haven't really had much planning capabilities lately. I don't know H'tsu's limitations and until he is done with me there really isn't much I can do. I have never been the strongest and the thought of caring for Hijastro by myself in my current condition is unpleasant to say the least."

"So you plan on sticking around than?"

"As long as I am permitted," he answered hesitantly.

Grimmjow asked him several more questions, all of them about his own incoming cub and what he was going to do afterward. The questions honestly confused him. What did Grimmjow care about what his plans were concerning either him or his cub? The questions led him to believe that Grimmjow wanted him gone as less competition for Ichigo's attention, and yet he didn't quite get that feeling from the interrogative Arrancar.

His back was really starting to get sore from remaining in his submissive position and he wondered if he dared shift back onto his side. It was hard to read what kind of mood Grimmjow was in and he really didn't want to make a wrong move and arise the more powerful Arrancar's ire, especially with Ichigo asleep. If Grimmjow noticed his growing discomfort, he obviously didn't care. Szayel found his own ire starting to rise as the kink started to get really damn uncomfortable.

"Grimmjow, Cachorro has been up every two hours to feed. I am tired and my back is starting to kill me staying like this, so please get to the point. What are you trying to ask me?" he finally demanded exhaustively, and perhaps a bit more testily than was wise as he was dead tired, now in pain and just wanted to get some sleep before Cachorro demanded his attention again.

If it is this bad now, just what was it going to be like when Hijastro hatched and he was feeding two of them? He shivered at the thought and hoped by then Cachorro would be less demanding of his attention or, preferably, already on solids. Yes, on solids would be much preferable.

"I am offering to let you and your cub stick around," Grimmjow grunted.

Szayel opened his mouth to point out that it wasn't his position to make the offer, it was Ichigo's as pack Alpha, before closing his mouth again. Ichigo was the kind of person that had probably already decided to let him stay as long as he wanted and there was also no guarantee that the next mating wouldn't see Grimmjow come out on top. While he seriously doubted that Grimmjow could ever overpower Ichigo he wasn't going to risk the chance it could happen; if only because, once again, Ichigo was the kind of person that would _let_ Grimmjow win a test of domination for the sake of 'fairness.' He was essentially being offered a permanent place in the pack, to no longer be treated as an intruding outsider.

As he had mentioned earlier, he wasn't quite sure what his plans were going to be once Hijastro was hatched and raised. He would like to get back to his lab and continue working on his projects, but the biggest one was right here in front of him. He would essential have unlimited access to the Alpha Pair's cub, and possible future cubs, for his studies. Any scientist knew that the more data sources one had the more accurate the information would turn out to be.

Than there was the last little thing; if something did happen to him than at least Hijastro would be cared for as his cub would be part of the pack, and most packs watched each others backs.

"I would like that," he agreed softly.

* * *

><p>Huge hugs to the reviewers, I love you all :) Sorry it took that extra week to get this chapter up, but it was a bit of a pain to write and the baby is really starting to move now, kicking my bladder like a ball all day. The nearest 3d Ultrasound is in Vancouver, a 2 hr Plane ride or a two day drive away so just plain Ultrasound pics for me. No odd cravens yet.<p>

Cachorro looks like a fluffy grey kitten, no masks or holes. Front paws have longer 'fingers' and a 'thumb,' but otherwise he looks like a normal kitten, just a bit bigger than the house hold variety.

Yeah, it would mean Szayel is essentially lactating. I am pleased that part of the story was so well received, and hopefully something no one saw coming a mile away.

Stay tuned for the next chapter, which I Haven't even started on yet /cringe. Although I am sure it will come out easier than this one did… I hope


	27. Unexpected Danger

Edited : March 17th

Unexpected Danger

Nothing changed much over the next two days. Cachorro still fed from Szayel and explored the world around him with an ample amounts of curiosity. However, he still showed little interest in the lizard Grimmjow had brought home for him, regardless of how much Grimmjow tried to get his son to engage with the docile creature.

Grimmjow spent most of his time hunting, leaving in the morning and returning in the late afternoon with one of his kills in tow for Szayel to consume in order to keep his strength up. The rest were stored in the cubby for now, as they expected to leave tomorrow.

Ichigo, for his part, studied intently for his exams with Szayel's help, pausing only to give attention to his son when Cachorro demanded it. The cub seemed willing and content to explore his surrounding on his own, taking great joy in the nest and its ample supply of pillow mountains and soft blanket valleys.

"Perhaps it is time for a break," Szayel suggested around noon.

"Yeah, maybe you are right," Ichigo sighed in frustration.

They had been studying since first thing in the morning, after Grimmjow had departed on his hunt and his brain was starting to melt. He had thought Ishida had been a harsh taskmaster but now that Szayel had grown more comfortable with him, Ichigo was discovering the former Espada was just as demanding. In addition, Szayel was far more knowledgeable in the disciplines of science and mathematics than Ishida (which was saying something, given Ishida's excellent marks), but he was very lacking in history, language and other, more human-related studies. Ichigo could understand that since he no longer lived in the Living Realm and had no use for such knowledge.

Ichigo stood up and stretched, listening to his joints pop and feeling the burn of his muscles as they were stretched. He was out of shape and beginning to feel somewhat cooped up after having practically lived in this room for the last two months. No wonder Grimmjow was so eager to go hunting all the time. He was really starting to slack on his training.

He glanced at Szayel and quickly tossed the thought of a sparring session aside. He swore that his little sister Yuzu had more reiatsu than Szayel did right now and he didn't want to put any stress on the expecting Arrancar by using their break to duel a bit. He would just have to wait until Grimmjow got back and maybe the two of them could do a bit of sparing now that his mate was more or less back to normal.

Given the time of day, Ichigo began to feel the hunger gnawing at him and grabbed one of the few MRE's that were left. Urahara had spared a few extra in case something delayed his homecoming, but they only had a week's worth of the packets left. There were only three packets of 'hollow food' remaining as well, which they'd decided to hold back and leave uneaten in order for Urahara to study. The scientist might still need them as a reference even though the inventor of the meals was going to be coming back with them.

"Have you decided on what you will tell your family and friends about me?" Szayel asked Ichigo curiously.

"The truth," Ichigo sighed. "I have never been fond of lying, be it straight up or by omission. Although I should warn you that Urahara-san will probably be picking your brain apart the moment we arrive."

"Ah yes, he is a fellow scientist, correct?"

"Yeah, sort of. I would almost argue more of an inventor. He's the one who made these MRE's and I know he wanted to study those food packets you came up with."

"They are rather convenient, and….."

MEROW!

Both adults snapped their eyes over to Cachorro, who tumbled out of the nest and appeared to be soaking wet. Meowing pitifully and attempting to shake the liquid off of his paws with every step, Cachorro made his way towards them. The scene would have been absolutely hilarious if it wasn't for the scent of spilled cream and a now-soaked nest that was also coated with a sparkling layer of spilled sugar.

"Cachorro, what on earth did you get into?" Ichigo demanded, shocked at the mess.

It appeared that while they had been distracted, Cachorro had managed to drag the bag of sugar over to the nest, leaving one hell of a trail from the coffee pot to the blankets. Then he managed to shred the bag, leaving grains of sugar all over the pillows and blankets. Once the sugar had ceased to be fun, his son had decided to go after the carton of unopened cream, dragging it to the nest before managing to open it somehow, though Ichigo would bet that the paper carton was no match for his son's needle-sharp claws. The result was a soaked cub and nest that smelled curiously like sticky ice cream.

Ichigo sighed in frustration as his son ducked his head and slunk over to cower beside Szayel, as if he expected the Arrancar to somehow protect him from his father's displeasure.

Szayel tried not to chuckle too loudly at the situation but appeared to be failing miserably in that regard. Ichigo scowled as he looked back at the ruined nest and shook his head. The longer it sat like that, the worse it was going to get.  
>"I had better clean that up before the cream starts to turn and really stink, or the sugar turns into glue," he groaned, rising to his feet. Ichigo glared down at the mess his cub had managed to make before he started to gather the dirty blankets and pillows into a pile.<p>

The addition of pillows made the pile larger than his usual load of laundry. Since he was doing the washing anyway he thought that he might as well gather up the rest of it. Ichigo turned his attention back to where Cachorro was still peeping sheepishly up at him from behind Szayel and he felt a moment of indecision.

It was going to be hard enough getting all of this down to the laundry room even with H'tsu and Zangetsu helping to haul it, let alone dragging his son along with him. It was going to be hours yet before Grimmjow returned and the last thing the room, the pillows and the blankets needed to smell like was stale, mouldy cream.

A week ago he would have never considered this, but Grimmjow's words upon Cachorro's hatching, and his own innate sense of reading people, assured him that it would be completely safe to do so.

"Can I trust you to watch him, and maybe clean him up a bit if he doesn't try to shred you with his claws, while I get this thing cleaned up?" Ichigo questioned hesitantly as he manifested both parts of his souls to help with the laundry.

"Of course," Szayel was quick to assure him, even as his entire posture shrank as H'tsu leered at him.

**"Don't worry King, my pet will be well behaved,"** H'tsu assured him with a wide, feral grin that never left his Beta.

Szayel shivered and managed to somehow look even more submissive and terrified.

"Stop that," Ichigo scowled at his Hollow.

H'tsu gave Szayel one more smirk before scowling at the portion of the laundry he was expected to carry and the three of them left the room, with Zangetsu in leading the way.

**"You know I can always return to make sure he behaves,"** H'tsu pointed out, saying this over his shoulder as Ichigo fell in behind him.

Ichigo's scowl deepened and he gave his head a shake in disbelief. There was no chance in hell he was leaving H'tsu alone and unsupervised with Szayel, especially with his son there. He turned his gaze to Zangetsu instead as they walked down the hall.

"There is no need for such an action," the stoic Zanpakuto pointed out, clearly declaring that he would not be coerced into doing something he deemed as unnecessary.

(POV)

For the first time since his 'rescue' Szayel was alone with the Alpha Pair's offspring. There were so many experiments he wanted to run, but to do so would require going to his lab and he was honestly too terrified of what H'tsu would do to him if he so much as put a toe out of line to contemplate doing so. The tests would be harmless, just some blood work and such. He was sure Ichigo would even agree with them and not mind, but he wasn't going to risk the Pack Alpha doing nothing while the other two took their displeasure out on his hide, and he knew that H'tsu and Grimmjow would be displeased at any tests he chose to run on the cub.

It would be best to wait patiently for a chance to do so later, in a more 'sanctioned' setting. Besides, if they did go to the teen's house, which included a fully-fictional medical clinic, then they would have access to all that lovely equipment tomorrow. If it turned out the clinic was missing something than he was certain this Urahara person would have the missing pieces, assuming he was the way Ichigo described him. Yes, Szayel decided, he could wait a little longer to get the information he so desperately desired. Patience, after all, was a virtue.

"Shall we get you cleaned up?" he questioned the still-soaked Cachorro.

Cachorro looked up at him pathetically with big, baby blue eyes that might have melted the heart of dozens of people at a time, but had little-to-no effect on the Arrancar now picking up his cream-sodden body.

Szayel stared at the tub for a moment before shaking his head and heading to the sink instead. The tub would be far too much water with which to introduce the cub to his first bath. Hopefully Cachorro would not freak out as most felines did at the sight of water. The last thing he needed was for any of the others to return to a traumatized child.

Szayel set Cachorro down on the counter, sighing as the little one nestled against him and demanded to be fed, resting his front paws on the Arrancar's chest so he could reach a nipple to feed from. That was fine, it distracted the cub while he went about laying a hand towel down on the bottom of the sink, so Cachorro's paws wouldn't slip and slide, and filled the sink with a layer of warm water.

He had to wait for Cachorro to finish feeding before picking the cub up and slowly introducing him to the warm water. Cachorro jerked the moment his paws hit the water and squirmed in his grasp, but Szayel slowly continued to set Cachorro down in the sink.

Once in Cachorro sat there shivering for a minute in fright before slowly calming down as he realized the water wasn't hurting him. Once calm Cachorro sniffed at the water and looked about his makeshift bathtub. Spotting the shiny chain attached to the plug he started to bat at it.

Szayel just shook his head and grabbed another cloth to start gently washing the cream out of Cachorro's fur. The cub found an instant love for the washcloth and began to rub into it, meowing in pleasure and apparently not minding the water at all. Which was a relief to Szayel, but it also made washing the cub more difficult as Cachorro seemed to think the cloth was some sort of toy.

Once the cub was finally clean, Szayel set a towel on the counter and wrapped Cachorro in it before rubbing him vigorously dry, all to Cachorro's pleased mews. The result was one fluffy cub with a mess of fur that managed to pull a chuckle from him despite himself. He hunted up a brush and brought Cachorro over to his own nest, setting the cub down and began to brush out the fluffed up fur to Cachorro's further enjoyment. Cachorro's eyes drifted closed and before long the cub was slumbering peacefully.

Szayel made to lay down as well before bolting straight up, fully alert as he felt unfamiliar reiatsu approach the room. With his own powers drained dangerously low thanks to his condition, he had failed to register the danger until it was right outside the door to the den.

The sound of the door as it opened sent his heart rate skyrocketing until he forced it back down. Gathering Cachorro, he prayed the cub would remain asleep as he burrowed them both under the meagre materials that made up his nest. He pinned the cub between his own body and the wall and forced himself to breath as softly as he could while straining his ears to catch whatever it was the intruders said.

"This place looks lived in for sure, I think we got the right room."

"It doesn't look as if the inhabitants are here though. You two stand guard outside just in case it, or they, return soon. Stay alert, clearly they are good at concealing their reiatsu or we would have picked them up sooner."

There was no doubt in Szayel's mind that these were Shinigami, which meant they must be part of Kurotsuchi's group. Normally, he would have been able to destroy them all without breaking a sweat, but right now, weakened as he was and sans his Zanpakuto, he didn't dare risk a fight if one could be avoided, especially because Cachorro could be harmed in such a confrontation.

A sudden wave of more powerful reiatsu entered the room and he felt himself stiffen in fear as Cachorro stirred. Desperate to keep the cub calm lest he give their position away, he stroked the soft fur soothingly.

"Report!" Kurotsuchi demanded.

"It would seem that someone, or several someone's, are definitely living here Taichou."

"Obviously you fools. What I want to know is, who is it?" Kurotsuchi sneered.

Cachorro was starting to get very angsty now as Kurotsuchi's raised voice and unpleasant reiatsu flowed over them. Szayel silently pleaded for the cub to remain quiet. Before he might have stood a chance of at least escaping, but with a full powered, Taichou-class Shinigami present they had no chance of even making it out of the room.

"One of the Espada for sure, the reiatsu signature in the room in very strong. At least two of them judging by the feel, although the second signature feels odd," someone reported.

There was the sound of movement throughout the room and Szayel flinched as he heard the curtain concealing the nest being pushed violently aside. Cachorro flinched as well and started to whine very softly in distress. Szayel stroked the fur more firmly and tried to hush the cub, praying no one had heard Cachorro's little whine while desperately wishing that Ichigo, or even Grimmjow, would get back soon. Hell, he would even take H'tsu at this point.

"Taichou, these books are rather odd. Whoever this room belongs to is clearly studying the Living Realm."

"Hmm?"

There was a moment of silence, and the sound of someone shuffling the papers that he and Ichigo had so recently been pouring over.

"Oh, what is this?" Kurotsuchi's intrigued voice suddenly spoke up. "A scientific journal, how curious."

Szayel felt his blood run cold as he realized they must have found his journals, and the information that they held. His cold blood quickly heated at the thought of that bastard rooting through anymore of his hard-earned material.

"Arrancar breeding, H'tsu and," Kurotsuchi's voice paused as his reiatsu skyrocketed with glee. Szayel flinched in pain at the feel of it and Cachorro chose that moment to let out a loud mew of protest. The entire room went deathly silent.

The blanket covering him was pulled away and Cachorro let out another cry, squirming against him as the reiatsu in the air instantly turned hostile and the sound of many blades being drawn reached his ears. Szayel held onto the cub desperately, curling up around him to prevent the little one from escaping into danger.

"Szayel Aporro Grantz, what a pleasant surprise!" Kurotsuchi grinned, his voice betraying his glee.

Cachorro continued to mew desperately now and was squirming against him, small claws digging painfully into his weakened skin.

"And what is that? A Hollow cub?" Kurotsuchi questioned, his voice rising several octaves in excitement. "Your own perhaps? How intriguing! I can't wait to get a better chance to read this little treasure and study such an anomaly. Separate them, but don't harm the cub," Kurotsuchi ordered sharply.

"Hai, Taichou," the other Shinigami in the room saluted smartly.

Hand were suddenly all over him, trying to pry him away from the corner and grasp Cachorro, who was now yowling in fear and trying to burry himself under Szayel's body. He was weak, but these were nothing more than Shinigami lab rats. Their strength was below that of the average Shinigami, as it was their brains that had landed them in the 12th Division, not their strength.

After a moment of being unable to pry Cachorro from him or separate him from the wall one of them made a fist and slammed it against his temple. It hurt like a bitch but he refused to move. The others quickly followed suite and prying hands turned into sharp punches and kicks as they tried to weaken his body enough to force him to let Cachorro go.

He would sooner die than let them get a hold of the cub, his natural Beta instincts rearing up to protect the cub in his possession with his very life if need be; there may have also been a fair amount of fear about what Grimmjow and, more terrifying, H'tsu would do to him if he let any harm come to Cachorro.

When fists and feet failed to move him, the sheath of someone's Zanpakuto impacted very painfully with his shoulder. He felt the bone crack under the pressure and a whimper of pain was forced from his lips. That seemed to encourage the cronies of the Shinigami that had hit him and before long, they were flogging him with their Zanpakuto's sheaths, clearly not wanting to use their naked blades and risk cutting anything vital or worse, slicing the cub they were trying to pry from him.

He felt his hip crack and someone hit his left fibula hard enough to break the bone. Another crack was added to his shoulder and one shaft landed across three ribs, fracturing them as well. He refused to cry out as the sharp pain tore into him, but he couldn't stop the hisses or whimpers, especially as the broken bones and forming bruises were aggravated by the continued beating.

Cachorro continued to yowl in fear, the sound hardening his resolve to protect the cub and he refused to give the bastard an inch, even as he felt his right ankle shatter. A solid hit to the side of his head stunned him, enough that he saw starts for several minutes and it jarred his mask into the side of his face, resulting in a deep gash that instantly gushed blood. It possibly even gave him a concussion and caused him to bite down involuntarily, the taste of his own blood filling his mouth and running from his lips.

"Enough," Kurotsuchi sneered after watching the beating for several minutes, taking note of Szayel's defensive stance and his continued refusal to let Cachorro go.

The lackeys immediately backed off.

"I must admit I am surprised any Hollow could be so self-sacrificing to protect a cub. You are of no use to me beaten to death, and I have a feeling that is what it will take to pry the specimen away from you. I can't wait to determine just how far you will go to defend your cub later."

He heard the sound of a blade being drawn shortly before sharp agony ran from his cracked hip bone and horizontally across his back to his right shoulder. Blood ran down his back as Kurotsuchi took a step back and he felt his body start to go uncharacteristically numb.

_"Poison!"_ he realized in terror as he felt his muscles begin to go limp against his will. If he had been at full strength his body would have easily negated the poison, but he wasn't.

Cachorro had stopped yowling now that the assault was over and was once more just meowing desperately in distress for his parents. Szayel felt the rest of his body go limp as the poison finished working its sinister way through his system and he cursed his weakness.

"The specimens should offer no further resistance. Separate and contain them," Kurotsuchi ordered.

"Hai, Taichou,"

He felt a metal rod impale both of his ankles between the joint and tendon, forcing a scream of pain past his lips as it slid along nerves and jarred his shattered ankle. Another cry of pure anguish tore from his mouth as the rod was jerked and he was dragged from the wall by a rope attached to the metal shaft. Every shattered and cracked bone was viciously jarred, especially his crushed ankle, and tears of agony were wrenched out of him.

Cachorro's yowls of desperation rose to frantic as the two of them were finally separated, the cub stumbling after him. He willed his body to move, to reach out and grab the cub and hold him close, but his limbs remained stubbornly limp and unresponsive.

He gave off a mental cry as one of the bastards reached down to grab Cachorro by the scruff of his small neck, shortly before the room erupted into an explosion and was flooded with an enraged reiatsu that was so powerful that, in his weakened state, he was unable to maintain his grip on consciousness.

(POV)

Instinct. It was what kept him alive for so long, what let him rise up to become powerful enough that few could or would dare challenge him. The few times he had ignored his instincts, he had been beaten and caged by Shinigami; one forcing him to accept him as his master and the other regulating him into a Beta. He had learned his lesson well.

He was only halfway through his hunt and frustrated. A meagre two kills was all he had to show for his efforts so far, one of which he had consumed already, and yet the urge to return to his den was growing.

There should have been no reason for it, after all Ichigo was there and the teen was probably the most reliable guard dog in existence, but even that knowledge did nothing to curb the gnawing in his gut, a feeling that told him to return as quickly as possible.

Growling in annoyance, he abandoned his hunt and made his way back to the den. At first there he noticed nothing odd, until he realized the reiatsu that reeked of Shinigami he felt at the den wasn't Ichigo's. The teens reiatsu was clearly elsewhere in the fortress. He could tell the Hybrid was also making his way back to the den and he felt his own pace instantly pick up as well.  
>They met in the corridor just outside of the hall leading to his room, a look of real concern on Ichigo's face and Grimmjow felt his own rage swell. The two unknown Shinigami guarding the hallway barely had enough time to register they were coming, let alone let out a scream or fright or warning before the two were upon them.<p>

"Don't kill them," Ichigo ordered quickly. "They are just following orders."

Grimmjow snarled at him, but turned his death strike into a sharp fist to the stomach instead, putting the pathetic creature down and out. The sight that met his eyes as they burst into the room caused his vision to see red while Ichigo clearly saw black.

The Shinigami attempting to lay hands on his cub and the bastards dragging Szayel across the floor by a bar harpooned through his ankles had no time to look up before the furious Arrancar was in the room sending them all flying away from their victims with sharp kicks and punches that were held back only because Ichigo wished it. If he had his way he would have bisected them with Pantera for daring to assault any member of his pack, let alone his first cub.

He scooped up terrified Cachorro, who shivered in fright against his chest and turned his yowls into meows of distress, before standing defensively over the severely-beaten Omega. He didn't dare take his eyes off of the threat in the room to check on how the other Arrancar fared. Admittedly, he was more concerned in checking over his son to assure himself that Cachorro had come to no harm and in shielding both his cub and the weakened Arrancar from the impressive amount of pissed-off reiatsu Ichigo was busy emitting.

He had never felt such fury from the teen before. Ichigo had what looked to be the lead bastard pinned to the far wall. A horned mask adorned his face and the tip of his black, slender blade was held to a clearly-shocked Kurotsuchi's throat. The other Shinigami in the room had been rendered unable to stand and a few others were unconscious from the overwhelming rage of Ichigo's reiatsu. Grimmjow swore he could see the red and black waves of energy seethe as they washed over every potential threat in the room.

"Kurosaki, how delightful to see you again…" Kurotsuchi greeted him with a smile that seemed somewhat forced, though that could also have been due to the chokehold that Ichigo had around the bastard's throat.

"What the fuck do you think you were doing to my son?" Ichigo snarled, his voice echoing through the room, his tone gravely and dark, as if H'tsu and Ichigo were speaking at the same time.

Those few Shinigami still conscious flinched sharply at the demand and even Grimmjow felt a shiver of fear, and delight, run up his spine at the pure menace Ichigo exuded.

"Your cub?" Kurotsuchi asked, surprised, his eyes shifting to where Grimmjow stood cradling his son and standing protectively over the Omega.

He let out a snarl to show his displeasure and the few Shinigami near him flinched in fear.

"Just try harming my son asshole," Grimmjow snarled.

"Then the cub doesn't belong to…"

"No," Ichigo and Grimmjow said at the same time.

"It should not matter whose son he is," Ichigo added with a snarl. "What kind of twisted fuck goes after a child?"

Kurotsuchi opened his mouth to respond, but was forced to snap it shut when Ichigo already impressive reiatsu rose a notch. His eyes grew large with honest fright at the unsuppressed rage coming from Ichigo.

"If I didn't value my friendship with Rukia, Renji and the others, I would let H'tsu out to do what he's screaming at me to let him do," Ichigo snarled. "But if you ever come after another member of my pack again, I will not hesitate to let him gut you!" the enraged Hybrid growled. "Now get out of here!"

Ichigo tossed Kurotsuchi to the floor, sending him skidding several feet to land by the door in a heap. No one needed a second invitation and those able to move, once Ichigo reigned in his furious reiatsu enough to let them move, gathered their fallen companions and made a hasty retreat. Kurotsuchi was the last one out of the door and glared back at them. Ichigo sent out another wave of furious reiatsu and the Taichou made a quick, undignified exit.

For a moment the only noise in the room was Cachorro's quiet keening. Then slowly, Ichigo let the overwhelming display of his reiatsu subside and his mask dissolved. The young man's shoulder's slumped.

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine, shaken up but not hurt in the least," Grimmjow answered calmly for both of their sakes.

He had never seen Ichigo so furious and was honestly feeling a bit scared, and turned on, himself. Instead, he decided to turn his attention to the last person in the room and frowned at what he saw. Szayel was a royal mess. Dark bruises were starting to form all over his body and his reiatsu, already weakened, was sputtering. The rod through his ankles and the deep slash in his back couldn't have been comfortable either. The fact that Szayel was out cold also spoke volumes.

Ichigo was by their side in a second, on his knees as he quickly examined the unconscious Omega, concern and panic rising off of the teen, a concern he felt growing in his own breast as the reiatsu of the Omega, and the forming cub inside of him, fluctuated dangerously. In their ignorance, the Shinigami had done far too much damage to Szayel's body for it to support both lives. In addition, and perhaps a little selfishly, Grimmjow's teeth ground together as the realized that without Szayel, there would be no one to feed Cachorro.

* * *

><p>As noted in POV, I ain't feeling so hot, so enjoy the chapter and thank you all so much for the reviews. See you next week when I will hopefully be feeling better.<p>

Just a note, when butchering animals, or dragging them out of the bush (at least smaller ones like deer and goats) you hang them by running a rope or hooking a hook between their ankle and achilles tendon. That tendon is pretty damn strong


	28. Returning Home

Edited: March 17th

Returning Home

Kurotsuchi was in a foul mood most of the way back to the secured lab that acted as the 12th Division's base of operations. He had failed to gather the two very rare specimens they had stumbled across, one of them having escaped him twice now. While failure was part and parcel of any scientific endeavour, he preferred those that didn't result in an entire squad being thrashed by one substitute Shinigami with an attitude problem. At present, his intended specimens were guarded by Kurosaki Ichigo, a creature not even he dared tangle with, not only due to the Hybrid's impressive powers but because he had far too many annoying friends, including most of the other Taichou and that perpetual thorn in his side, Urahara Kisuke.

Still, as far as the accumulation of knowledge went, the day had just made a spectacular turnaround. He had never guessed that Hollows could breed, and the thought of it sent his mind reeling. All of his previous research revealed that Hollows were unisex or sexless, each one the same as the last without determinable eggs or semen. Granted, the Arrancar were something else: a hybrid of Hollow and Shinigami created by a simple, and yet powerful, jewel. His investigations had determined that the Arrancar did have separate genitalia, so perhaps breeding was possible now, although the females he had examined still lacked eggs or wombs and the males lacked a true form of semen. This left far too many questions as to how such a feat was accomplished and left him utterly confused as to how two males had managed to conceive without medical assistance. This matter definitely warranted further investigation.

Fortunately for him he had other specimens to which he could turn his attentions. Several Arrancar had been left dying on the field of battle, or were simply abandoned during the invasion, and he had been there to gather them up to make sure they hadn't lost their usefulness by pointlessly dying.

He entered the main control room and typed eagerly away at a control panel, pulling up the cameras that allowed him to keep tabs on each of his caged specimens. He hummed a little as he considered them, mentally tallying each one up and deciding whether or not they would meet the criteria necessary for his purposes. On one hand, he had a number of questions to ask. On the other he couldn't wait to try and bred them himself and study the offspring.

"Nemu," he called his assistant. "Have specimen A50 brought into the interrogation room. And then prepare…hmm," he paused a minute and studied the screens and their occupants before making a selection with a very wide smirk of irony that was oddly fitting, "specimen A15. Yes, I think that one would be suitable for the experiment I have planned," he chuckled wildly before bringing his laughter back under control. "Have A15 cleaned up and brought into one of the larger specimen rooms."

"Hai," Nemu bowed and left to complete her assigned tasks.

"Akon…"

"Yes sir?"

"We might as well try several techniques. Have Specimens A56 and A24 placed together in one of the larger specimen rooms as well. I will see to them after I complete my interrogation of specimen A50."

"Together, sir?" Akon asked a little hesitantly, though the curiosity in his voice was apparent as well.

The Arrancar specimens had always been kept separated since their acquisitions. Never once had they ever been permitted to meet up with or even catch the barest hint of each other.

"Yes, together. Where my orders unclear?" Kurotsuchi turned on him, now obviously annoyed. Akon realized his mistake and backed up a little.

"No, it's just unexpected and I wanted to be sure I heard them clearly. May I enquire as to why sir?"

"It has recently been brought to my attention that the Arrancar can apparently breed," he answered, damn near squealing in delight. "The increase in electrical output in section E6 turned out to be Kurosaki and his Arrancar mate, complete with a healthy cub."

He let that bomb drop and wasn't disappointed with the fallout. Akon stared at him in shock for a few seconds, and then recovered enough to bow slightly to his Taichou, the calm, neutral expression he normally wore in place once again.

"I see. I can handle the experiment involving Specimens A56 and A24 if you would like to devote your attention to the other, more complicated pair, Taichou," Akon offered.

Ah, Akon. He was, perhaps, the most reliable minion he had. He had proven his use and his worth time and time again, ever since the man was a child. He was one of the few Kurotsuchi knew he could leave to work unsupervised and would still conduct everything exactly as he would want and expect.

"See that it is done," Kurotsuchi ordered as he walked off. He had an interrogation to conduct with specimen A50 before moving onto the other phases of his latest interest.

As per his instructions, specimen A50 was strapped to the table when he entered the room, brown eyes staring vacantly up at the ceiling, not even flickering in order to acknowledge Kurotsuchi's presence. Matted, dirty blond hair, damp from having been recently washed as Nemu had made sure to clean him up a bit before bringing him to the room and strapping him down, lay limply about him. The lack of reaction was nothing new to him. Specimen A50 had never been particularly defiant or active since his acquisition, going through his imprisonment and experimentation with a detached, almost lifeless demeanour, and yet at the same time he never failed to answer a direct question if asked. It was his docile behaviour and willingness to answer questions that had made Kurotsuchi pick him for this experiment.

"Is it possible for hollows to reproduce sexually?" he asked as he stepped up to the head of the table.

"Yes," Specimen A50 answered monotonously and emotionlessly.

"How? Clearly no eggs or sperm are involved since your species lack both," he demanded.

Specimen A50 launched into a rather interesting description of the process, his voice remaining dull through the explanation. Kurotsuchi had never even considered that such a means of reproduction could exist and he felt a bubble of excitement erupt in his chest when he discovered gender wasn't the defining issue as far as hollow reproduction was concerned. The only complication Kurotsuchi could foresee in getting his experiments to mate was going to be getting them to both initiate the battle for dominance and then mate instead of kill each other.

He considered his choices again for this experiment. He was certain Specimen A50 would work wonderfully, but would Specimen A15? After a moment of contemplation he decided Specimen A15 would work if he offered something in exchange for obedience in this endeavour. Yes, Specimens A50 and A15 should work just fine, as long as he could secure A15's compliance. Specimen A50 was docile enough and he had no doubt the Arrancar would easily adopt and agree to a Beta-like role.

He asked several more questions for confirmation, ones that told him that Specimen A50 would likely be willing accept a Beta role, before sitting back and thinking. To his surprise Specimen A50 dared to speak outside of answering questions.

"It is clear you wish me to breed. I believe it would work better if I was the one to bring the subject up with whomever you have chosen to be my partner."

He thought about it for a moment before deciding the specimen might be right. While he was never that interested in studying the social aspects of his subjects, this time it might be worth delving into. In fact, the less interference, the better things might go.

After filling Specimen A50 in on what he was prepared to offer both of his chosen specimens for their cooperation in the experiment, he left the room, giving firm instructions to his staff that Specimen A50 was to be fully fed, cleaned and healed of all defects. He wanted the specimen in top shape for the coming events.

He gave similar instructions for Specimen A15's care. Once both had been tended to, he personally escorted Specimen A50 to the larger room in which Specimen A15 was confined.

Specimen A15 glared at him through long, wet, pale blond hair and with narrowed eyes as he entered the room, but didn't move from the slab-like bed he was currently resting upon. Despite every experiment he had gone through, Specimen A15 remained defiant, nothing like the docile Specimen A50.

"Today is your lucky day, Specimen A15," Kurotsuchi smiled at him, steeping aside to let Specimen A50 walk into the room.

Specimen A15 widened his eyes in surprise for a moment, as this was the first Arrancar he had seen since his acquisition, before narrowing them in suspicion. Kurotsuchi continued with his speech before the Specimen had a chance to demand to know what was going on.

"You will of course be closely monitored, but Specimen A50 here has been directed to inform you of this newest experiment and the benefits I am willing to grant you for your participation in it. Do enjoy it and have a good time," Kurotsuchi smirked before walking out and securing the door behind him.

He gathered up the voluminous folds of his hakama and haori and practically raced to the control room so he could begin his observations. Would they actually breed or would they have to go in and separate the two specimens? He knew Specimen A50 would co-operate fully but would Specimen A15 find the offer for freedom from further experimentation, full meals, and access to a room with bathing amenities attractive enough to submit as well? How long would it take for conception? He came away with the impression that conception was damn near 100% when the two participants observed the proper mating rituals. Only time would tell.

(POV)

It had been two months since anyone had seen or heard from Ichigo. The teen was expected to return soon though, so all of his friends and family kept one 'eye' out for the feeling of the young man's unmistakable reiatsu.

It was mid afternoon when the distinctive feeling of a Garganta opening rippled over the reiatsu field of Karakura Town, alerting all of those waiting and watching for it that Ichigo was on his way home. Even if they had failed to noticed the Garganta, the sudden spike of Ichigo's reiatsu fluctuating wildly in distress and anger would have been impossible to miss.

Kisuke barely had time to register it, let alone think about what it might mean, before Ichigo barged into the shop with a rather large bundle that left a trail of blood in its wake. At first Kisuke assumed something was wrong with the cub and that was what had Ichigo in a panic, but his burden was far too large to be the cub unless it had undergone one hell of a growth spurt. Grimmjow came in right behind the teen, cradling a small, grey bundle in his arms that was meowing in distress.

"Quickly, he needs help before he loses his cub!" Ichigo shouted frantically, invading Kisuke's home and his personal space in a few short steps.

Ichigo set his bundle down and unwrapped it enough to reveal another Arrancar, this one with blood stained pink hair and incredibly low reiatsu that was…no, make that two sets of reiatsu that were sputtering dangerously. Kisuke felt his eyes widen in surprise.

"This is an Arrancar," Kisuke pointed out and frowned, even as he set about sending his own energy into his patient as an emergency measure, desperately trying to stabilize both parent and child, but it was impossible for one person to do. He could only focus on one of them.

"What's going on in here?" a confused Ginta said, peering in through the doorway.

The rest of the occupants in the shop arrived at this point and the moment Yoruichi saw how dire the situation was, she left in a flash of Shunpo, only to have a very concerned Isshin take her place, his own reiatsu fluctuating with concern. No doubt Isshin had assumed that there was something wrong with his first grandchild and decided to break his cover out of pure worry.

"Isshin…" Kisuke said, sensing the man even as his eyes remained glued to his patient, "…good, come over here. You were always better than me at delicate work like this. I need you to stabilize the child," the shopkeeper ordered.

"Who is this? What's going on?" Isshin demanded as he rushed over to Kisuke's side.

The former Taichou's eyes widened in alarm when he saw the damaged creature before him and widened even further as he plunged his own reiatsu into that of the forming cub in a desperate bid to stabilize it. Recognizing the trace of reiatsu from at least one parent, Isshin stared up at his son in astonishment.

"Ichigo, what happened/what is this?" Kisuke and Isshin demanded at the same time. Ichigo, for his part, took a deep breath before he launched into an explanation.

"He was watching Cachorro while Grimmjow was out hunting and I was busy doing the laundry. Cachorro had destroyed a bag of sugar and busted open a carton of cream all over the nest. Zangetsu and H'tsu warned me something seemed to be wrong so we rushed back to the den to find Kurotuschi's men dragging him from his own nest by a harpoon speared through his ankles and trying to grab Cachorro."

The young man took another deep breath, this one in order to stay calm as he reported what he knew of Szayel's injuries.

"As far as I can tell, he has a broken collar bone, his left shoulder is dislocated and has two fractures, his left hip is fractured, his left fibula is broken, three of his left ribs are fractured, his right ankle is completely shattered, the wounds in both ankles from the metal rod are fairly large and he's got some pretty nasty bruises. The deep cut around his temple makes me worried that he may have a concussion," Ichigo concluded.

Kisuke was not surprised to discover Kurotsuchi was involved. He had recognized the poison spreading through his patient's system quickly enough, but didn't bother wasting any resources combating it. It's intent was to paralyze, not kill. If the patient suddenly did wake up under its effects, the resulting lethargy would stop him from making any sudden moves that might cause himself, or them, further harm.

What he was truly shocked about was the amount of damage the Arrancar had taken during his beating. Why had his own innate Hierro not mitigated more of it? Did being impregnated truly weaken a Hollow this much? Grimmjow had shown similar signs of weakness, but not this much before he'd returned to Hueco Mundo.

During Ichigo's recital of Szayel's list of injuries, his friends had arrived and remained standing at the door in various states of shock and concern. Thankfully, and perhaps wisely, they had not walked blindly into the room, nor had they made their presence known to the distraught teenager.

"And the cub?" Isshin asked in a strange voice. "It feels like yours Ichigo. Have you been sleeping around while I haven't been watching?" Isshin demanded sharply.

A gasp from the door brought Ichigo's attention to his friends. Orihime had her hands over her mouth, Tatsuki looked ready to murder him, Ishida was doing a poor job of trying to return to his normally cold, distant demeanour and Chad, mercifully, simply looked like Chad.

"It's technically not mine, I mean, it sort of is, it's my fault, but I wasn't the one who mated him, even though he is a part of me," Ichigo was rambling now, his panic starting to override common sense.

"Ichigo you're rambling," Kisuke cut in firmly.

"The cub feels like you," Isshin pointed out, eyes narrowing.

"It's H'tsu's," Ichigo snapped.

"What.. you mean, your Hollow's cub?" Kisuke questioned surprised, honestly curious how such an event came about.

"Yeah, stuff happened and Zangetsu and H'tsu were forced to manifest. I didn't know anything had happened until after it was too late. I mean, H'tsu is technically a part of me and I couldn't just leave him…" he motioned to Szayel, "when I am responsible for it happening. I should have looked into what H'tsu was doing sooner," Ichigo admitted sadly.

Isshin started at his son stonily for a moment, before running a hand through his short hair and nodding his head. Kisuke half expected him to return to his usual goofy front but was honestly surprised when Isshin remained serious.

"Taking responsibility for your mistakes, that's the son I am proud to say I raised."

Ichigo blushed in embarrassment and pleasure.

"Unfortunately," Isshin looked back at their patient, "I am sorry to say I do not know if we can save the cub. He is fairly banged up and both of their reiatsu is dangerously low and unstable."

"And I am no good at stuff like this," Kisuke sighed in reluctant agreement.

He could feel their patients slipping away. Healing had never been one of his stronger capabilities, let alone creatures different from his own. Everyone in the room stiffened in shock.

"Can I help?" Orihime offered hesitantly, piping up with her soft voice.

"I am afraid not," Kisuke shook his head sadly. "Your powers, while extraordinary, heal the body, but they do not restore reiatsu. This is a reiatsu-based problem and right now the cub is nothing more than forming reiatsu. There is no physical trauma for you to reject nor previous form for you to return it too. It would be like trying to use your powers to make a seed grow into a tree," Kisuke explained the best he could.

The room fell into stunned silence as Kisuke and Isshin worked desperately to save their slowly dying patients.

Then an overwhelmingly strong power entered the room, calm and comforting even as it conveyed a sense of strength to the rooms' occupants. Grimmjow instantly snarled and snapped his gaze over to the newcomer, moving to protect his son from the Shinigami who had dared enter their space. The intruder didn't seem threatened by him in the least and continued to walk serenely into the room, ignoring the hostile Hollow. Yoruichi entered right behind her.

"Gentlemen, Yoruichi-san has informed me you have a rather interesting dilemma. Isshin, it is good to see you again. It's been far too long."

"Retsu, it is good to see you as well," Isshin greeted her with a strained smile.

"We have an Arrancar here with dangerously low reiatsu. He's unstable, as is the cub he is carrying," Kisuke explained.

"A cub as well?" Unohana exclaimed with surprise as she joined the two beside their patient. "I was unaware hollow's could mate," she murmured in surprise.

Her hands glowed a soft green as she melded her powers with theirs and let them guide her through the energy pathways of their patient to show her what they had to work with. Her forehead creased in a deep frown as her survey of the two revealed the extent of the damage.

"We may not be able to save them both. I am afraid this is unfamiliar territory for me. Kurosaki-san, if it comes down to a choice between the parent and child, which should we try to save?" she asked gently.

A look of torment crossed Ichigo's face as she placed the heavy burden upon his shoulders. Pain flickered across his features as he wrestled with the choices presented to him.

"The parent," Ichigo sighed. "We need him to care for Cachorro and he can always… try again if he survives."

"Very well," Retsu said soothingly, aware of just how hard it had been for Ichigo to make that statement. "Kisuke, please permit me to take over, and we will see what we can do."

"Of course."

Kisuke moved over and retreated while Unohana took his place, both beside the patient and 'inside' of him as well. Another frown of concern marred her serene features as she took a closer look at the damage they had to deal with.

"This will take a very long time. It would be best if everyone were to depart except for Isshin and myself, as your residual reiatsu is interfering with the operation."

"Of course. If everyone would like to come with me I can put on a pot of tea and one of coffee," Kisuke added as his eyes caught Grimmjow scowling the moment 'tea' had left his lips. "I would also love to get a closer look at your cub," he said, smiling.

"Unohana-san…" Whatever Ichigo was going to say or ask he never finished.

"I will do all I can for him, and the cub, but I will be honest with you Kurosaki-san; it does not look good. I fear we will not be able to save them both," she admitted sadly.

He nodded and followed the others out. As soon as they were all out Unohana raised a protective shield around the room so that no foreign reiatsu, or any other distractions for that matter, could interfere with the procedure.

Kisuke led the group to another room before heading to the kitchen to set a kettle of water on to boil and got the seldom-used coffee pot going. He had a feeling it was going to be a long day and probably a longer night.

He was a little surprised how concerned Ichigo was over the fate of the pink-haired Arrancar he had dragged in. Kisuke really wanted to know the full story behind just how Ichigo's Hollow had managed to not only manifest, but impregnate the strange Hollow. Also, what did Ichigo mean when he said they needed the other Hollow to care for his cub? Regrettably ,his curiosity would have to remain unresolved for now was not the time to ask. He would put his curiosity aside until Ichigo had calmed down. If anyone stood a chance of saving the Arrancar and his cub it was Unohana and Isshin, but even Kisuke didn't think the unborn cub had a chance of making it.

"So, Kurosaki-san, would you care to introduce us to your cub?" he questioned as pleasantly as he could as he returned from the kitchen in a desperate attempt to lighten the dark atmosphere. "You said his name was Cachorro yes?"

"Yeah, for now."

"Oh, why only for now?" Kisuke asked curiously, hoping to distract the clearly distraught teen from the situation.

"Most cubs are named Cachorro until they earn their name," Grimmjow interjected, giving Kisuke a warning look that told him touching the child might not be a good idea at present, given the circumstances. "Others born into a pack are called Hijastro."

While Ichigo seemed truly concerned over his friend's fate, Grimmjow seemed a lot less caring, or at least the Hollow concealed his worry better. It was hard to say since Kisuke wasn't as familiar with Grimmjow as he was with Ichigo.

"Interesting. Oh, I hear the kettle going. Grimmjow-san, would you please help me bring everything into the room?" Kisuke requested.

At first Grimmjow looked about ready to protest or argue, but he looked over at Ichigo and reluctantly nodded his head. Ichigo jerked a bit in surprise when he was handed his cub, as if coming out of a trance. Without a word Grimmjow fallowed Kisuke into the kitchen. With any luck, he would be able to get the full story on everything that had happened over the last two months, including just who that Arrancar was and how Ichigo's Hollow had been manifested.

(POV)

Ichigo had been in a sort of trance, his mind whirling over the events that had just happened. He prayed that his father and Unohana could save Szayel and his cub. He wasn't sure how the former Espada would handle another miscarriage, especially so soon after the last two and with H'tsu's threats if he failed looming over his head. H'tsu was actually being rather silent on the whole affair, which was a bit of a blessing.

He blinked out of his trance when Grimmjow handed him Cachorro, his son's soft mews of distress igniting his protective parental instincts. Cachorro was still shivering in fright and Ichigo set him gently down in his lap, softly stroking his sons fur and murmuring assurances that everything was going to aright. After several minutes Cachorro finally stopped shivering.

His son seen to, Ichigo finally raised his eyes to regard his friends and family. He had no idea when Karin and Yuzu had arrived. He had been so out of it he hardly even registered that most of his friends were in attendance. Of them all it was Ishida his eyes went to first. The Quincy was very sharp and he had no doubt that Ishida had recognized just whom he had brought back with him. Pink hair was definitely not a common feature and the body was far to large to Yachiru.

"I don't even want to know how he's alive, or even how your Hollow knocked him up. All I care about is whether or not I need to worry about putting an arrow through his head when he recovers from this," Ishida commented, having apparently read his thoughts.

"No, he's safe now. I guess Hollows generally function in packs and I hold the position as Pack Alpha. Besides, how could you distrust someone who went through what he just did all for the sake of protecting my son? He could have abandoned Cachorro and saved himself, but he didn't. He took the beating and protected Cachorro the best he could."

Ishida stared at him intently for a minute before finally giving a nod of his head.

"So, this is our nephew?" Karin asked curiously, looking at Cachorro oddly.

"Yeah. I know, not what we were expecting, but this is him," Ichigo adjusted Cachorro in his lap so the others could see him more clearly.

"He's so cute!" Orihime and Yuzu squealed at the same time.

"Can I hold him?" Yuzu half-asked, half-demanded.

"Can I touch him? His fur looks so soft!" Orihime was quick to add.

"I am not so sure right now is a good time guys," Ichigo sighed. "Maybe later, after everything calms down."

Cachorro was eyeing the strangers distrustfully and Ichigo didn't know how Grimmjow would react to seeing the others touching his cub, especially so soon after such a stressful event.

"It's fine. If my child was almost killed or harmed, seeing him in the hands of strangers and former enemies would not make me comfortable in the least," Karin admitted and shrugged nonchalantly.

"How old is he now?" Orihime asked.

"Three days," Ichigo answered.

"He seems rather developed for having been born three days ago," Ishida noted sceptically.

"Yeah, I guess Hollows are born ready to defend and hunt for themselves, but Cachorro here isn't technically a full Hollow so he's really not that interested in hunting just yet."

"So what do you feed him?" Yuzu asked curiously.

"Ahh…"

Ichigo had no idea how the hell to answer that one. Thankfully, Grimmjow came to his rescue.

"Szayel feeds him," Grimmjow answered as he returned with Kisuke, food and the drinks. "All Natural Beta's are capable of feeding cubs."

Some of his friends caught on quicker than others. Ishida was the first to splutter in surprise and blush, Chad raised an eyebrow but said nothing, Orihime, Yuzu and Tatsuki remained confused while Karin let out a burst of laughter before controlling it and shaking her head.

"What's a Natural Beta?" Tatsuki asked confused.

"Basically a bitch, someone who likes to put his or her tail in the air and let whomever is strong enough ride them," Grimmjow explained crassly as he sat down next to Ichigo with a steaming mug of coffee, causing the young man to put his face in the palm of his hand and shake his head..

Ichigo felt some of the stress leave his body as they chatted, his friends and family asking questions about his son and Hollow Nature. He completely lost sense of the time, until Tatsuki's cell phone alarm went off, alerting them all that it was almost 9:30 at night.

Reluctantly, his friends left one by one until only Karin and Yuzu remained, despite Ishida and Chad's offer to escort the two younger girls home. Kisuke left the room shortly after with the intent to clean up the dishes from their gathering. Yuzu immediately offered to help and wouldn't take no for an answer, not that Kisuke protested the girl's help too much.

Cachorro had relaxed somewhat as time went on, but his son didn't completely relax until after almost everyone had left.

"Your reiatsu looks like it's back up to full, mind-numbing strength," Karin commented.

"What did you expect, for it to stay so pathetically low?" Grimmjow grunted.

"No, but I thought it would take longer to recover," she admitted.

The door slid open and everyone looked up as a very exhausted-looking Unohana walked into the room.

"Kurosaki-san, Grimmjow-san, may I speak to you about your companion?" she requested softly.

Ichigo felt fear bolt through him and his hands began to tremble, enough so that he had to set down his teacup lest he let it drop.

"Yeah, we will be right there," he assured her, looking down at Cachorro.

Even though he was positive his son didn't comprehend speech yet, he really didn't want his cub to hear any of what might be said, nor to be in such a depressing atmosphere.

"Oi Karin, can you watch him while we hear whatever she's got to say?" Grimmjow requested.

"Of course," Karin agreed, accepting Cachorro from Ichigo.

The cub squirmed for a moment but eventually settled down as he recognized Karin's scent and reiatsu as belonging to family. After a minute Cachorro had completely calmed down, nestling contently in Karin's lap as she gently stroked his fur with a soft smile.

With a heavy heart, Ichigo and Grimmjow followed Unohana out of the room and back to the room housing Szayel and Isshin. H'tsu still remained quiet although Ichigo sensed his hollow was riding very closely at the back of his mind. Zangetsu was also a quiet and firm presence in his mind, silently offering his support in the only way his Zanpakuto could.

* * *

><p>love all you faithful reviewers and welcome new readers. I feel all fuzzy and warm that I have managed to make the reader feel what _I want them to feel_ for each character, regardless of how you felt about them before reading. /pat's own back. Can anyone guess who Specimen's A15, A56, A24 and A50 are? granted they really aren't **that** clever of a code.

I slept all day yesterday and didn't even bother going to work. I am so damn tired all the time now. Baby is still kicking a lot, which I guess is good, means I got a healthy, active baby right?

Until Next week


	29. Despair

Despair

Szayel woke slowly, his mind caught in a deep fog. Initially, he was confused as to his location. His entire body ached but he could feel his reiatsu slowly working to heal the damage. His memories were slow to return to him, but when they did, he quickly snapped his eyes open and searched frantically for Cachorro. Pain erupted throughout his body as he aggravated his injuries. It forced him to lie still until the agony ebbed a little.

He didn't recognize the room he was in and fear flooded his body. Had Kurotsuchi managed to capture them? He half expected the crazed Shinigami to stroll into the room at any moment and start bragging about his takeover of the laboratory, and then inform Szayel in great detail just what kind of experiments he planned to subject the captive Arrancar and Cachorro to.

Cachorro gave a sleepy mew of protest at being disturbed and after the agony and panic died down a bit more, Szayel became aware that the cub was sleeping contently beside him; soft fur tickling the small portion of his skin that _wasn__'__t_ covered by bandages. If Kurotsuchi had him. he doubted that Cachorro would be by his side, nor would his wounds have been so carefully treated, and that offered him a brief moment of hope. He felt his reiatsu flair slightly as it complained about him exacerbating his injuries. That alone caused him to freeze a second time in shock, his unrestrained arm flying to his stomach.

He should not have reiatsu at all with his condition and after a quick scan of his stomach he felt tears pool at the corner of his eyes. There was no trace of the budding of life that had been within him, no 'thrum' of a second reiatsu trying to form. His stomach was barren. He had failed again. H'tsu would not be pleased.

Sobbing softly, he gathered Cachorro closer with his one good arm, the cub making small, soft noises, but otherwise having no further complaints about being held against his right side. Surely H'tsu wouldn't't punish him in front of the cub. Would he wait until after Cachorro's needs had been met before meting out his punishment? It wasn't as if this was his fault and he had done everything he could to defend Ichigo's son. That had to count for something didn't it? He knew H'tsu cared for Cachorro in some small way.

Szayel heard the door to his room slide open and he stiffened in terror before realizing that the intruding reiatsu wasn't that of his Alpha, or even Ichigo. He didn't recognize who it was, even though it had a familiar feel to it. It felt strongly like a Shinigami though, and he feared that his first guess had been right after all, that he was now in some Shinigami lab awaiting dissection or experimentation. Cachorro meowed in displeasure as he involuntarily tightened the grip he had on the cub and Szayel forced himself to loosen it before he accidentally hurt the little one.

This reiatsu was powerful and deep, clearly not Kurotsuchi, and yet strangely familiar. He didn't sense the scientist, or any other additional Shinigami for that matter, anywhere in the vicinity. He decided that, given the evidence, he was in a safe location, and that Ichigo and Grimmjow must have made it in time to save he and Cachorro. Szayel decided that this Shinigami was probably one of the teen's friends, perhaps even the scientist, Urahara Kisuke that Ichigo spoke of. Unfortunately, that also meant that it was only a matter of time until H'tsu paid him a visit.

"You're finally awake!" a deep, male voice greeted him cheerfully.

Szayel nodded his head numbly, wishing he had never woken up at all. H'tsu would punish him as promised, probably shortly after Cachorro no longer needed him. Hell, Cachorro probably didn't need him anymore. If Urahara Kisuke was half the scientist that Ichigo claimed he was, then an alternate solution had probably already been devised to feed the clearly healthy cub, unless Cachorro was suddenly eating meat now. Somehow he doubted it.

"Considering how close we came to losing you, I expected a happier reaction to being alive, but you look like you would have sooner died," the strange man commented, his grin changing to a frown as he took in Szayel's miserable expression.

"You might as well have let me die," Szayel responded with a half-sob, only now daring to look up at the intruder.

He was scruffy-looking with scraggly black hair and a beard that looked like it desperately needed to be shaved, or at least trimmed. It was almost as if the man had had no time put towards any attempt at basic hygiene for at least a week. There was something about him though that tugged at Szayel's exhausted brain and the man's next sentence finally helped his addled mind put the facts together.

"I think my grandson would be displeased had we let that happen. He seems to like you, not to mention his other apparent need for your existence," the man shook his head in disbelief.

Grandson. The slightly familiar-feeling reiatsu and the now-obvious genetic markers came together to form an acceptable explanation for his presence. This was Ichigo's father, Kurosaki Isshin if he recalled the name right. Still, the knowledge about the man's identity did little to relieve his dread-fuelled sorrow.

"It won't matter, he'll kill me for failing him again," Szayel whispered, dropping his gaze and setting Cachorro down so he could stroke the cub's soft fur. Doing so always had a calming, effect on him, although it did little to help him now.

"Who will kill you for what?" Isshin inquired as the man closed the distance between them and sat on the edge of the large bed, in a gingerly manner so that Szayel wouldn't be disturbed and so that he wouldn't tower over his patient.

"My Alpha, H'tsu. He told me if I failed him again he would…" Szayel paused and took a shuddering breath, his strokes on Cachorro's fur increasing in rate and intensity before forcing himself to finish the sentence, "fuck me to death until my deceased body ceased twitching."

It took a second for Isshin to let that sink in and when he did realize what Szayel had told him, his eyes narrowed a little.

"I see." Isshin frowned and his reiatsu gave a soft yet dangerous flare before subsiding. "Ichigo would never permit such a thing to happen," Isshin assured him. "To be honest, I don't think you have anything to fear at all in that regard."

"Huh?" Szayel looked at him, utterly confused.

Isshin had the faintest hint of a smile on his lips.

"You didn't 'fail' Szayel; you have merely been unconscious for two weeks as a result of the trauma you suffered. Your cub is fine!" Isshin smiled as he moved aside and gestured to what appeared to be a cradle sitting against the opposite wall. Szayel had missed it earlier, lost in panic, thinking it was just another piece of furniture.

The former Espada's eyes widened as he stared at the egg nestled within, giving off a soft pulse of reiatsu that clearly had his markers and appeared to be strong and healthy.

"It was very close but Retsu and I managed to save you both, although I must admit it was touch and go for most of the procedure. You should be fortunate that H'tsu is as much Ichigo as Ichigo is, since it means your cub is technically family. I do not know if we would have been able to save him or her if there hadn't been a family member around familiar with such delicate reiatsu procedures to stabilize it. However, I trust I don't need to go into the details with you. You're already quite knowledgeable about such things, if my son is correct about your intelligence."

Szayel nodded his head in response. He knew exactly what Isshin was talking about. He tried to sit up so he could better inspect his egg, but Isshin placed a hand on his undamaged shoulder and easily held him down.

"You shouldn't move yet. We invested almost all of our energy towards keeping you and your cub's reiatsu stable, so we haven't been able to see to your rather impressive laundry list of injuries. Rest there, I will bring your egg to you," Isshin promised.

Szayel nodded his head and lay back down while Isshin retrieved the egg from the cradle, setting it carefully down beside him. Seeing another handle his egg should have upset him, but Isshin was family and after two weeks of having the man's reiatsu entwined with his and his cubs his instincts recognized Isshin as safe. Hesitantly, he reached out his hand to touch the shell of his young. He felt a pulse of reiatsu from his cub tingle warmly against his hand and his earlier tears of terror quickly turned to ones of joy. His cub was safe and fine. He had managed to successfully lay his egg while being unconscious and, with such a powerful pack backing him up, this time he just might finally get to see his offspring hatch.

"Thank you," he whispered gratefully to Isshin.

"Anything for my grandchildren." Isshin smirked, a hint of the man Ichigo had informed him his father was peeking through. "Although, I must confess I was expecting _human_ children, preferably _after_ Ichigo had graduated university, got a high paying job and found a nice, young woman to settle down with," he said, ticking off those hypothetical things on the fingers of one hand, "but I'll take what I can get." The man chuckled, reaching down to pet a pleased Cachorro. "If Hijastro is even half as cute as Cachorro, I definitely won't have any complaints."

"Where are Ichigo and Grimmjow?" Szayel asked, honestly surprised Cachorro had been left with him unattended, especially after what had happened the last time he had been left alone with the cub.

"Ichigo is at school taking a makeup exam and Grimmjow returned to Hueco Mundo to grab some things and more food. They should both be back soon. Besides, Cachorro hardly wanted to leave your side once he was permitted in your room, although I do got to confess watching him feed can be rather…unsettling," Isshin admitted, though he had a wry smile on his lips.

"He has still been feeding from me?" Szayel seemed surprised at Isshin's revelation regarding Cachorro's feedings.

"So far he has refused everything Kisuke has offered him and we determined he wasn't doing your recovery any harm, so we saw no reason to interfere. Are you up for an examination? You have a number of fractured and broken bones that need addressing."

"Yes," Szayel said, acquiescing.

"Good, let's start with your left wrist. It's clearly an older wound that never healed correctly, although Retsu and I managed to set it properly. How did that injury occur?"

"H'tsu was displeased with me and broke it on two separate occasions as punishment," he answered honestly as Isshin gently removed the bindings wrapping his wrist. "It was before Ichigo found out what was going on and stepped in to stop any further abuse," he assured Isshin when he noticed the look of displeasure that bordered on anger cross Isshin's face.

"Hmm," Isshin hummed, examining the swollen wrist with the professional manner of a well-trained doctor before wrapping it tightly again.

One by one they went over his injuries and Szayel winced as the examination revealed the extent of the damage he had taken. His body was still covered in some rather dark bruises and his bones ached fiercely. He had been in a state of shock for most of the attack and his sole focus had been on protecting Cachorro, so it hadn't really registered in his mind how bad the injuries actually were. The worst injury was his shattered ankle. It would need to be completely reconstructed and then it would still be months before he could walk on it again, unless Orihime healed it. He honestly saw no reason why the human woman would help him, but now that his reiatsu had stabilized, Isshin seemed confident the girl could finally deal with the beating his body had received.

Isshin was nothing like what he'd expected. Ichigo had filled him in on his father's eccentric nature, so it wouldn't come as too much of a shock when they met, and yet he saw none of what Ichigo had described as an 'overtly enthusiastic goofball' in the serious doctor being presented to him now. It was clear that Isshin was very knowledgeable about medicine, but then he had to be in order to license and run his own clinic.

"Where am I anyway? This clearly is not Hueco Mundo," Szayel asked, once his disturbing examination was over; he considered it such because Isshin had noticed the damage done by H'tsu to some rather intimate parts of his body he would sooner forget about and had insisted on getting the entire story behind them.

"This is Kisuke's shop. It was impossible to safely refresh your markers in your condition, so we set you up in this heavily shielded room to try and minimize as much of the fallout as we could, although Grimmjow did mention something about 'bait and good hunting,'" Isshin replied, then chuckled and shook his head. "Whatever that means, I guess."

Cachorro meowed, indicating his displeasure at having been ignored for so long during the examination and now demanded attention. Isshin snickered and stroked his grandson's fur with a wide grin on his face.

"He has hardly left your side, although I don't know how much of that is affection for you or affection for the food you provide."

"Probably the food," Szayel admitted and looked at the cub that was busy nuzzling up to the hand petting him with pleasure.

It was still heart-warming (if one could say that he had a heart to warm) to know that the cub hadn't left his side, especially since Cachorro was technically the reason he was in this condition. He doubted Cachorro understood overly much about what had happened, but it was still nice to know the one for whom he'd taken one hell of a beating for hadn't abandoned him.

"Is this what Hijastro will look like when he or she hatches?" Isshin questioned curiously.

"I don't know. Cachorro is the first Arrancar cub ever hatched and Grimmjow is very feline like, both in his days as an Adjuchas and in his Resurrección. I was sort of catlike in my Adjuchas stage with four, percentile tentacles running from my back that housed my defences, but my Resurrección is more insect-like. H'tsu is completely human-looking as far as I know and, unlike Ichigo, he is a full Hollow so I don't know how his genetics will play into things. You should know as well as I do that no one can predict what a child will look like without getting samples of the off springs DNA codes before it is born," Szayel pointed out.

"True enough," Isshin conceded. "Who knew that poor Ichigo would be born with Masaki's hair colour? The poor boy has been tormented over it for years."

"I am sure his name had absolutely nothing to do with it," Szayel pointed out dryly.

The door opened and everyone turned their eyes to see who had entered. Cachorro let out a squeal of delight, tumbling out of the bed and stumbling across the floor in a rush to get to his returning parent.

"Your finally awake, that's good to see. I was getting pretty worried," Ichigo greeted him with honest relief as he scooped his son up.

Szayel had never seen Ichigo in either his school uniform or his human body. While the prison of flesh did dampen some of Ichigo's impressive spiritual pressure, it did little to actually mitigate it. Anyone who knew what to look for would know the young man simply reeked of power. His body was merely a look-alike container for it and Szayel found it strange looking at two sides of the same person, the spiritual and the physical, when he was so busy dealing with just the one.

"How did your test go?" Isshin grilled his son, one eyebrow raised.

"I think I passed," Ichigo answered and scowled in annoyance. "History was never my best subject. There are too many stupid dates to memorize and I swear, the name of the Emperor changes every five years throughout the Heian Period," Ichigo answered as he walked up to join them and also sat carefully on the edge of the bed so as not to disturb its occupants. "On the up side, you will be pleased to hear that I literally aced Chemistry and Biology and pulled 97% in Mathematics, earning several recommendations for various scholarships," he added with a smirk.

"I shudder to think my tutoring skills would be anything less than perfect," Szayel sniffed, brushing a stray strand of hair out of his face as he did so in a vain attempt to preen, despite being covered in purple bruises, wrapped up in bandages and wearing several casts.

Ichigo laughed and shook his head in amusement. Cachorro let out another meow and Isshin just smirked at the lot of them.

"Oh, not to bring down the mood a bit, but H'tsu says he is pleased the egg is laid now. It was really rough there for a while but everything seems to be going alright. It's just a matter of time now, isn't it?" Ichigo asked.

"Yes," Szayel answered and turned his attention back to the egg nestled against his undamaged side.

It looked very similar to Cachorro's egg and he could tell by touch alone that the shell was strong. As long as it wasn't disturbed, there ought to be no problems when it hatched. The reiatsu output of Ichigo, Isshin, Grimmjow and himself was more than enough to prevent any potential damage that might occur regarding Hijastro's development from remaining in the Living World, nor did it seem that staying here had had any negative effects on Cachorro and he said as much.

"Yeah, Urahara-san and company are in the middle of fixing up the Vizard's old warehouse for us. We talked about staying with my family, but the Clinic is only so big. There are already protective shields up around Shiniji's old shop that we can utilize and Urahara-san assured me that Shiniji won't mind us taking it over."

"How long do we plan on staying here?" Szayel queried hesitantly.

"Well, I at least want to stay until I finish my studies. My family and life are both here and it's a hell of a lot safer here than in Hueco Mundo right now. I understand if you want to leave after Hijastro is old enough, it's not like we are holding you prisoner or anything," Ichigo shrugged.

It was definitely something to think about. There really wasn't anything left for him in Hueco Mundo if he returned alone, especially with Kurotsuchi controlling his labs, and here he was, part of a pack once more. Who knew, maybe Kisuke would let him use his lab equipment and he could start up a few of his experiments again.

The thought of his experiments reminded him of a key point in his ordeal at the hands of Kurotsuchi and his Division, and Szayel felt immediate panic.

"My journals? Where are they?" he demanded suddenly, frantically looking about the bed as if he expected them to be right there. The last time he had seen them, Kurotsuchi had been holding them and he desperately hoped the despicable Shinigami hadn't taken them.

"What's got his tail in a knot?" Grimmjow demanded as he waltzed into the room, a Hollow's corpse casually tossed over one shoulder and a large box tucked under his other arm.

"My journals!" Szayel explained before the other two could.

"Chill Hime-chan, they are right here," Grimmjow grunted, dropping the corpse in a corner and then walking over to them to set the large box on the table. "It's not like you have been in any shape to write in them anyway."

Szayel decided to ignore the derogatory nickname for now, although he did make a mental note to pay Grimmjow back for it later, and focused instead on the items Grimmjow fished out of the large box.

A few articles of clothing appeared, followed by the small box containing Cachorro's pet lizard, Ichigo's binders and text books and, finally, his three journals. He would have snatched them had he been physically capable of it, but his only good arm was on the wrong side and currently wrapped around his egg. It was still a great relief to see them here and intact.

"Journals?" Isshin questioned with a raised eye.

"Scientific journals," Szayel corrected. "Containing all of my notes and observation on Arrancar mating and young. These are the first instances of course and the information in them is invaluable."

"Ah," Isshin gave a nod of his head, understanding dawning in his eyes. "I would love to go through them at some point, if you don't mind."

"Of course," Szayel agreed easily.

This was Ichigo's father and the man who had saved his cub. He was now technically family and Szayel felt oddly at ease around him, perhaps because Isshin's reiatsu had been entwined with his for so long during his recovery that he subconsciously thought of him as 'safe'.

Then an unwelcome realization hit him and he frowned, and then looked back up at Grimmjow in growing concern.

"You just retrieved these now?" he pressed the other Espada.

"Yeah."

"And no one has been at the den for the two weeks we have been here in the Living World?" he demanded.

"No. Why?" Grimmjow countered, sounding a little annoyed now.

Szayel's frown deepened as he looked at the journals Grimmjow still held. He made a few mental calculations and didn't like what he came up with. On one hand, the ramification of what would happen if the knowledge in them was put to the worst sort of use wasn't their business. On the other, he had learned a lot about Ichigo and knew how the teen would react if his suspicions were correct. There was also the vindictive part of his personality that wanted to see Kurotsuchi suffer, and he _would_ suffer greatly if his suspicions proved correct and if he informed Ichigo of them.

"No scientist would pass up the information contained in these journals, and that bastard Kurotsuchi knew they were there. He was going through them shortly before I lost consciousness, which I think happened before you arrived. There is no way he would not have sent at least several scouts to see if there was a chance of retrieving these books. It would have been very easy to do so while we've been gone. He'd shown a great deal of interest in the contents, if I remember his gloating correctly."

"Meaning?" Grimmjow growled in annoyance.

Isshin already had a deep frown on his face and even Ichigo had a look of growing dread.

"Meaning he would have access to several Arrancar he believes he could breed for the sake of his own experimentation," Szayel replied.

Ichigo's look of dread slowly morphed to anger while Grimmjow seemed a bit less concerned. Hollows generally weren't that friendly with each other and it was a rare one indeed who would go out of his way to help one he didn't know or care for.

"So?" Grimmjow questioned with a grunt.

"He could have Nel," Ichigo whispered, eyes widening. "I never did find any trace of her while hunting and I lost track of her after our battle."

Ichigo looked like he was about to say more, probably something along the lines of how they couldn't leave anyone to suffer at Kurotsuchi's hands if they could do anything about it, but the teen paused and studied Grimmjow for a minute before changing his line of approach.

"Not to mention he might come after Cachorro again if he fails and we still owe him for attacking the pack anyway. He doesn't belong in Hueco Mundo. That world belongs to you guys and he has no right to intrude upon it."

_That_ got Grimmjow's hackles up. It was a different take on the situation, but still resonated. There was no guarantee Kurotsuchi could get his prisoners to breed; in fact it was highly unlikely, as breeding among the Arrancar was rare. It was true that Arrancar had more 'humanistic' feelings, but that didn't mean he could force them into a battle. Even if he could, there was even less of a chance that the initial fights would go from 'to the death' to 'frenzied mating.'

However, if Kurotsuchi could manage to get his prisoners to procreate, it would leave him with powerful, trainable offspring. The thought of that egotistical bastard with a pack of rabid, Hollow dogs willing to follow his commands did not sit well with Szayel at all and he said as much to the others.

It was unnecessary to add more fuel at this point. He could already tell that Ichigo and Grimmjow were both ready to return to Hueco Mundo and pay the bastard a personal visit. Isshin was surprisingly silent on the whole affair and Szayel couldn't quite get a read on what the older Shinigami was thinking, though he could tell the older man wasn't particularly happy.

"Do you know where Kurotsuchi even is?" Isshin finally spoke, posing the question.

"Yes, he set himself up in one of my old laboratory complexes," Szayel assured him. "I can give you the codes for the defences I put in place, but you can be assured that he probably added more. I can also provide you with the complete layout, including where the cells are, which is where any prisoners would be held. I doubt he would construct new ones when mine are so perfectly designed," he couldn't help but to boast.

"There is one other thing. The suppression device, the same one I used on you two when we, ah, met up again. There is one in the lab and while I didn't program it to have yours Ichigo, it definitely has Grimmjow's. I also wouldn't put it past Kurotsuchi to figure that device out and yours may have been added, but as we learned you can just manifest H'tsu and Zangetsu and that should negate the device. Of your human friends, should you bring them, I know the Quincy's is in there, but the others are not unless if they have been added.

"I can design a remote to deactivate it, assuming the codes haven't changed, but it will only last so long until someone resets the device and then you are on your own." Szayel chewed his lower lip for a moment while other thoughts and options whirled through his head. "I might be able to come up with a module that would flicker or distort your reiatsu to confuse the device, but it would also mess up your own reiatsu control and make it unreliable," he offered hesitantly.

"I doubt Ichigo would notice the difference,"

"Hey!" the teen protested.

"…and the small fry in there hardly need much strength to floor," Grimmjow pointed out, ignoring Ichigo's protest.

Szayel nodded in agreement. He would sooner go as well, just to be there to rub their Victory into Kurotsuchi disgusting, painted face, not to mention deal with all the technological barriers he knew were going to come up, but he didn't dare leave his young unattended and he was hardly recovered enough to go into a fight. It would just have to be enough to know that the Shinigami was getting some of what he was owed. He truly despised the species.

"_Well, most of the species,__"_ he amended as he looked at Ichigo and Isshin, two Shinigami he didn't feel distaste for.

Isshin remained silent and pensive, even as Ichigo and Grimmjow, with Szayel occasionally chiming in to offer suggestions, hashed out a plan to rescue prisoners that might not even exist, although Szayel was pretty damn sure there had to be _some_, and pay Kurotsuchi back for daring to attack their pack.

When nothing more remained to work out, Ichigo and Grimmjow gathered Cachorro and left to get something for the teen to eat, leaving him alone again with Isshin and the corpse Grimmjow had dragged back with firm orders to eat.

"You can be very manipulative," Isshin noted with a strange voice.

"Nothing I said was false," he pointed out defensively.

Isshin was still giving him a measured look and he felt himself growing uncomfortable. He suddenly understood where Ichigo got the strange vibe that made one want to please him, because Isshin made him feel the same way now. He wanted the older man to like him, to show him approval and it was a little disheartening to know that he had somehow let the Shinigami down. Szayel tried, therefore, to defend his actions with all the logic he could muster.

"I do want to see the bastard get what he deserves, but I also understand how Ichigo thinks. How much worse do you think he would feel if I _hadn__'__t_ told him my suspicions and he found out I knew about it later?" Szayel pointed out.

"True enough," Isshin conceded, and that scrutinizing gaze lessoned slightly, but Szayel still felt like he was on some sort of trial and grew increasingly uncomfortable, not to mention a little worried.

"What do you know about Natural Betas? Did Grimmjow or Ichigo explain my unique situation at all?" he asked curiously, quickly trying to change the subject.

"I would like to hear more about it from your own words. In addition, I'd like to know just how my son's Hollow managed to manifest and impregnate you," Isshin replied, indicating that he wasn't to be thrown off the scent that easily.

Szayel nodded his head and launched into his narrative of events, leaving nothing out and changing nothing, not even when he knew his past actions might upset the man. Isshin had that look on his face that told him the Shinigami would know if he was lying or playing with the truth. As he had noticed earlier, there was something about a Kurosaki that made one want to trust and please them, as well as follow their commands.

The former Espada couldn't help but to wonder; if he had enough time and resources to study the phenomenon could he find a way to bottle it?

* * *

><p>I bet I had you all going at the beginning, didn't I? *evil snicker. Still got one healthy baby if the movements are anything to go by, but I am once again finding it hard to dredge up energy. Just under three more months to go….. Thank you everyone for the well wishes.<p>

Loves to all you who reviewed. Those of you who broke the rather easy code guessed right, those of you who didn't, well, most of you got at least one of them right. Judging by the numbers they were assigned there has to be a large number of Arrancar, and we only meet maybe half of them. I really wanted to avoid making pointless OC's so I tried to take the ones who would be alive, either because of cannon or ones that could be argued to still be alive, ergo they didn't actually die on screen. You will find out who they are two chapters from now, for Next Chapter:

Karin gets to meet Szayel and I throw is some Grimm Ichi smex since it's been too long since the last time.

Angle: It will be explained in the future.


	30. Relieving Stress

Gasp, two Chapter so close together! This is for Black Storm, who this fict was originally dedicated to and who is having a bad week. Enjoy.

* * *

><p>Relieving Stress<p>

Ichigo felt his entire body poised and tensed, ready to spring into action at any moment. It was a tension that only increased as he was reminded he couldn't do anything at the moment. And yet every minute he sat here, Nel and so many others, could be suffering at the hands of that deranged lunatic Kurotsuchi. But they needed a fool-proof plan and time to get the things they would need to carry it out together and there was no getting around those two things.

The relief he got was that Szayel had finally woken up. He had been honestly concerned over the Arrancar's fate. His father, Unohana and Kisuke had all warned him that it could be weeks, months, and possibly even a few years before Szayel regained consciousness. His already-weakened body had undergone some terrible trauma and they had no idea what had happened to Szayel other than the various wounds taken during the physical beating that they had been able to catalogue. Neither his father nor Unohana had wanted to try to get at what his mind might have undergone.

Unohana had returned to the Seireitei after the egg had been laid and most of the danger had passed. He had thanked her profusely for helping. Ichigo didn't have a deep understanding of how reiatsu worked, a blind spot made obvious by his complete lack of control over it, but he did understand that if it hadn't been for the joint efforts of his father and Unohana, then Hijastro wouldn't have had a chance of being laid, let alone hatching. Ichigo didn't want to think about what kind of emotional trauma that would have inflicted on Szayel. They didn't exactly teach psychology in high school but even he could tell the first two miscarriages had been devastating. A third might have destroyed the former Espada, or driven him mad.

His father had been shocked to learn about the previous two miscarriages H'tsu caused and Ichigo swore that Isshin had made it his very personal mission to make sure this cub made it. It wasn't simply because the cub was going to be his grandson or daughter. Isshin had also seen what a miscarriage could do to human parents and not even he wanted to guess how a person would handle their third in less than a month.

"You look like someone just trod all over your future grave, Ichi-nii," Karin commented as she walked into the room, causing Ichigo to jerk a bit in surprise. The young woman sounded genuinely concerned.

"He's been like that most of the day," Grimmjow grunted in annoyance, inspecting his fingernails.

Cachorro greeted his aunt with a pleased mew, stumbling out of Grimmjow's lap to meet her.

"Hey brat," Karin greeted him with a smirk and scoped him up, rubbing him vigorously behind the ears.

"Where is Yuzu?" Ichigo asked, a little concerned with his other sister's absence.

"At her cooking club. She won't be home until later," Karin answered.

These days, 'home' meant the shop. Ichigo had only briefly run back to his room above the clinic to gather a change of clothing, such as his uniform and some other odds and ends his father had requested from the examination and treatment rooms on the main level.

"Oh, don't you have soccer today?" he frowned at her.

"We cancelled it until this weekend. One of the senior teams has an out-of-town tournament this weekend and promised to buy all of us sundaes if we would let them use the field to practice." Karin's smirk hinted at some sort of deep satisfaction that Ichigo doubted had anything to do with free ice cream. "Did your friend wake up yet?" she asked, changing the subject before her brother could ask anything else about the topic.

"Szayel? Yeah, he woke up this morning. Goat face is seeing to him now."

"He's been spending a lot of time in there," Karin frowned and looked off in the direction of Szayel's room.

"You know what he's like with patients," Ichigo reminded her and then shrugged.

Karin looked off into the distance pensively, clearly lost in thought and gave a soft 'hmm' in acknowledgement. They sat in silence for a moment, Ichigo once more getting lost in his worry about Nel and the others, until a fist connected rather painfully with the side of his face.

"Ow! Grimmjow, what the hell?" Ichigo yelped and scowled at him.

Karin just raised an eye at the violence and gave a soft nod of her head in approval.

"Do you mind watching Cachorro for us," Grimmjow turned to ask the young woman, completely ignoring the scowling teen glaring at him and rubbing the side of his head.

"Sure," Karin agreed, offered him a knowing smirk. "Take as long as you want."

Ichigo blinked in surprise, the pain already fading. Grimmjow was not very trusting of others when it came to Cachorro, and the fact he was offering Karin a chance to watch their cub surprised him greatly. Of course, Karin was family and he knew the two of them actually got along surprisingly well, but in the grand scheme of things, she was not very strong. Granted, they were completely safe inside of the shop and he doubted that whatever Grimmjow had planned would take them very far.

"Good. Come on Shinigami, if I have to sit here and suffer any more of your moping, I am going to lose it," Grimmjow snarled, leaping deftly to his feet. He glared down at Ichigo with a look that promised a world of hurt if he didn't get to his own feet and follow.

Ichigo scowled at him, but rose to his feet and followed Grimmjow out of the room any way. He could use a good sparring bout. Fighting always did clear his mind and with Grimmjow back up to full, toe-tingling strength, he finally had a real opponent he could let his frustrations out upon.

(POV)

Karin watched them go with a smirk and a shake of her head. Grimmjow was probably one of the best things to have ever happened to her brother, and while it was still a little mind-boggling to think of her brother as gay, she found that they definitely suited each other. Karin could honestly not think of any female in Ichigo's life that could match him nor be his partner, other than possibly Rukia-neesan, but no one had heard from her in quite some time. The small Shinigami had a life and responsibilities that gave her little time for a relationship with a teenage boy in a completely different realm.

Karin could respect that and while she knew their father had hoped for a romantic relationship between the midget and his son, Karin knew it was highly unlikely that a match up like that would work. Rukia fit the 'best friend' role perfectly, offering Ichigo the last bit of what he needed as a stable (if occasionally fierce and butt-kicking) pillar, a feminine counterpoint to good old, stolid, patient Chad.

"Well Cachorro, shall we see how Goat face and the Nursemaid are doing?" she playfully asked her nephew, having adopted Grimmjow's nickname for Szayel simply out of habit from hearing the blue-haired Arrancar say it so often.

Cachorro let out a 'meow' and nuzzled against her more firmly, warm, soft fur tickling her throat as he nuzzled under her chin.

"Alright, there'll be no argument from me," she smiled as she rose to her feet.

She was not the least bit surprised to find her father in Szayel's room and she paused at the door to give them both time notice her. She'd had plenty of talks with Grimmjow and Kisuke about how territorial Hollows could be, especially when it came to mating and gestation. While she was family, it was still best to wait for acknowledgment and permission to approach until they grew accustomed to her presence; especially one with a cub, who had just woken up and was in such an injured state.

It was Cachorro's sudden fussing that alerted the two men to her presence, both of them looking her way and she briefly lost her breath as she caught sight of the startling gold eyes that met hers. She couldn't even focus on the oddity of shoulder-length pink hair with eyes the colour of amber gazing so intently and intelligently at her. He looked nothing like any of the other Hollows she'd met. Even Grimmjow's eyes had a wildness that roared 'danger' to her, while this one's gaze gave her a completely different impression.

"Is it alright if I come in?" she asked, hoping she sounded confident.

From what she understood of Grimmjow's explanation of Hollow pack dynamics, as Ichigo's sister she was of a higher rank than Szayel. In fact, he was currently the lowest in the pack since other than Grimmjow, the Alpha's mate, the rest of them were the biological family of the Pack Alpha. So she kept her eyes on his, ignoring the urge to drop them.

She felt his reiatsu reach out and brush inquiringly against hers, surprisingly gentle in its touch and with nothing like the wildness she was use to from Hollows. She still had to hold back a shiver at the pure power behind it. She had faced common, everyday Hollows many times before, but even if she hadn't known he was an Arrancar, she would have known he was something else entirely from the power behind that tentative touch, and this was him in a weakened state. She couldn't help but to wonder what he might be like when he recovered, although she knew he was weaker than both Grimmjow and Ichigo.

"You are family?" Szayel probed, and Karin mentally shook herself in order to answer.

"Hai, Kurosaki Karin," she replied, introducing herself.

At her words he finally dropped his gaze from hers and she got the impression she was now invited in. She still moved slowly into the room, giving him time to adjust to her presence, but kept her confident stride. Hollows fed on fear and she kept that in mind. Honestly, she wasn't afraid anyway, not with her father sitting right there in his Shinigami form, but first impressions were everything.

Her eyes instantly went to the large egg nestled by his side and she had to force herself not to stare at it in wonder. Cachorro wiggled in her arms so she set him down, watching in amusement as the cub climbed up onto the bed to nestle against him. Szayel winced in pain as Cachorro aggravated his cracked ribs before Isshin picked the cub up and moved him to Szayel's relatively undamaged side.

Cachorro meowed in protest at being moved before climbing halfway back up Szayel chest to feed. Karin could honestly say the sight shocked her for she was fairly positive that, despite his feminine looks, Szayel was male.

"All part of being a Natural Born Beta," Szayel explained as he noticed her shocked expression.

"Ichi-nii and Grimmjow mentioned that particular aspect of it, now that I think about it, but it's something else, to ahh… see it…" she chuckled nervously.

"I trust you have been instructed on proper behaviour and etiquette to avoid any unfortunate accidents?"

"As informed as those two were capable of making me, but let's be honest, neither one of them are really that good at explaining things." Karin admitted.

"Fair enough," he replied and offered her a small smile. "I appreciate your application of Hollow etiquette, especially given the inadequacies of your teachers. I assure you that I am far more intelligent and less instinctually-driven than most Hollows. As Ichigo's biological sister, you are free to come and go as you see fit without fear of aggravating my own instincts, now that I have a taste of your reiatsu and scent."

Karin couldn't help letting out a small breath in relief at that.

"That's good to know, but I hope you will forgive me if I continue to err on the side of caution. Unlike Ichi-nii, I can't exactly pop out of my body and start hacking up the things that might come at me or tick me off."

She swore she saw hint of some respect and a small amount of amusement in his eyes as he nodded his head in agreement.

"Even a tame dog can still bite."

"I would never compare any Hollow to a dog." Her eyes drifted to the egg again. "How on earth did you lay something that big anyway?" she marvelled, unable to help herself as she compared the size of it to the relative size of Szayel's body.

The mental image that came to mind made her shudder. There was only one hole remotely big enough that males had in their neither regions and she could not imagine something that big coming out of something so small, let alone past such narrow hips.

"The egg is essentially solidified reiatsu that emerges from a, let's call it a 'reiatsu portal hole,' that forms at the abdomen when it is ready to emerge," Szayel explained. "It forms no matter what the Arrancar's outward sex might be."

That made a bit of sense.

"So, it's sort of like a built-in Caesarean device without the hell of slicing, sewing and scarring? Ingenious," she said, respect tingeing her voice.

Karin got the impression that he was pleased with her understanding.

"You are medically-trained as well?" he asked.

"Somewhat," she smiled. "You don't grow up in a Clinic without learning some things and Yuzu and I help out old Goat Face here when the need arises. I am also the Captain of a soccer team full of hyper young boys that are always getting themselves beat up, so I have learned a few things here and there," she admitted and then shrugged.

"Karin-chan is fully-certified to act as a Sport's Physician," Isshin praised his daughter.

"Yeah, the school loves it," Karin scowled. "One less teacher on the payroll when they can just ship me off to every game as a 'water girl,'" she grumbled. "Still, I get to travel for free much of the time, as the school covers all my travel expenses and I can get a feel for the stadiums and leagues I will be playing in when I am older," she explained. "So it works out."

"Would you like to touch it?" he asked her, taking her by complete surprise.

"You wouldn't mind?" she asked shocked.

"Technically speaking, I couldn't deny you without fear of reprisal from your brother, however, if Grimmjow trusts you with Cachorro I see no reason I cannot trust you as well."

"Yeah, that one honestly surprised me, but I think Grimmjow just wanted some alone time with Ichi-nii since he was acting all mopey and stupid again. I can guarantee you they are downstairs beating the crap out of each other, at least for now," she smirked.

Tentatively, she reached a hand out across Szayel's body to touch the egg. The shell was warm and rough beneath her fingers and she giggled as a pulse of reiatsu brushed against her own, just as wary of her as she had been over touching the shell. After a moment the pulse became more confident and Karin couldn't help but to smile as the cub's reiatsu mixed with her own, just like the way Cachorro had done when she had first held him.

"He or she likes you," Szayel noted.

Cachorro had finished feeding and was now meowing in protest that **he** wasn't the centre of everyone's attention. The Horror! Karin laughed again and picked the cub up.

"That's what you get for abandoning me for him," she admonished her nephew.

Cachorro pouted at her before meowing again and demanding his due.

"Spoiled brat," she chuckled. "He loves me, but he doesn't seem to care for Yuzu that much. Come to think of it, neither does Grimmjow. Why is that? I mean, Yuzu and I are twins, so what do I have that she doesn't?" Karin pondered aloud.

It had been bothering her forever and she hadn't felt confident asking Grimmjow about it, but she had a feeling that she might get a straight answer out of Szayel. She didn't quite get the feral feeling from Szayel that she got from most Hollows, and she wondered if that had something to do with the fact he was a Natural Beta. In fact, if not for the feel of his reiatsu (not to mention the amber eyes framed by pink hair), she could easily mistake him for human.

"I would have to meet her."

"Yuzu is too soft," Isshin was surprisingly the one to answer, drawing both of their attention. "Just like Masaki," the older man smiled softly in memory.

Her father had been relatively silent up until now, seeming content just to let the two of them talk without his usual crazy antics. In fact, her father had dropped most of his crazy stunts since Ichigo's return and had only occasionally used them when Yuzu was getting upset.

"She has even less reiatsu than Karin and has a hard time seeing ghost or Hollows. She is very much a submissive person."

"Ah, Grimmjow, and most Hollows for that matter, really only care about strength, so if your sister is anything like that, then she would most definitely not have his respect."

"And yours?" Karin questioned with a raised eye.

"I value intelligence far more than muscle, but again, I am not a typical Hollow."

"Yeah, I can see that," Karin agreed.

(POV)

It had been ages since they had been able to let loose against each other, or at least it felt like ages when it had, truthfully, only been a few months. Hunting Hollows in the desert was nothing compared to the thrill of crossing blades with Kurosaki under the full power of his Resurrección. It left his spine tingling in pleasure and his heart racing in joyful anticipation.

Ichigo was a little sluggish at first, having had little vigorous exercise in some time, but the teen shook it off quickly enough and before long blood from both of them splashed the ground. Not as much as their old fights when they had tried to kill each other, but enough to leave their bodies stinging in pain and the taste of it lingering in the air, turning him on as much as the powerful reiatsu clashing against his own.

Oh, how he wanted to toss the teen down onto the ground and mount him, but now was not the time and his instincts reminded him they had Cachorro to care for and another cub in the pack on its way. They also had to deal with the painted freak as well. Now was not the time to have one of them weakened from mating.

"_But afterwards, afterwards your ass is mine Kurosaki," _he silently promised.

For now he simply enjoyed the burn of pumping muscles, the sting of the slices in his skin, the thrill of such powerful reiatsu lashing against his own and reminding him just how powerful his mate was.

An hour later Ichigo's eyes were once more clear of depression as the two of them panted heavily from the exertion their violent sparing had brought about. He was more tired than he liked to admit while Ichigo was already regaining his breath.

"_Damn body still isn't back up to full form," _he silently cursed, completely denying the fact that Ichigo was simply stronger than him.

"Let's clean up. There is a hot spring over here that will heal most of these scratches," Ichigo suggested and tossed his head behind him to indicate the direction of the pool.

Grimmjow followed him, eyes taking in Ichigo's assets as they walked. He wondered how much more the teen would grow over the next few years, although he didn't think it would be much more. Several inches at the most, hopefully. Height was one advantage he had over teen and he didn't want to give it up any time soon. Whether he'd add any more muscle remained to be seen. He simply couldn't see Ichigo running to fat as he aged.

The hot spring wasn't overly large, but it was big enough to let the two of them lounge comfortably with a bit of space between them. The water relaxed him deeply and he sighed in contentment as he felt his muscles slowly relax, his eyes slipping close in pleasure as his mind drifted.

He didn't register the soft caress on his inner thigh at first, but he sure as hell noticed when the hand moved up and wrapped around a rather intimate part of his nether region. Blue eyes snapped open and he almost jerked in shock when he realized that Ichigo was now right in front of him, his eyes slightly glazed and sprinkled with gold.

"You want something Shinigami?" he questioned with a smirk.

"I want you, Hollow," Ichigo responded. "Preferably writhing and moaning beneath me," the teen added huskily as he closed the distance between them until he was straddling Grimmjow and his arms rested on his shoulders, effectively pinning him to the pool edge.

Grimmjow let out a growl. He hated being pinned and Kurosaki knew it. His growl turned into a whimper, however, when Ichigo moved closer and rubbed their bodies together. That made his own arousal apparent and his teeth latched onto the soft skin of Grimmjow's throat.

Both of them let out a moan, one that increased in volume as Ichigo continued to grind against him, bringing their bodies flush together. Grimmjow's own hands abandoned the edge of the pool to grasp Ichigo's rear, nails digging in and helping the teen along as their bodies rubbed deliciously.

He felt the teens own nipples brush against his own and it elicited a gasp of delight from him, forcing his head back to rest on the ground behind him. Ichigo took full advantage of the move, latching and sucking onto his now very exposed throat and giving off a groan of pleasure that seemed to vibrate in both of their chests.

The water sloshed about them as their bodies continued to move together and the hot spring suddenly became too warm as his body filled with desire and pleasure. With everything that had been going on, it had been several weeks since he'd gotten laid. When one had access to a mate and a pack that could care for one's cub while you played, abstinence was one hell of a crime.

"Too hot," he murmured as he felt his body heat up even more. Not all the liquid covering their bodies was from the steam and water anymore.

Ichigo laughed, but pulled back a bit, moving his hands from their tight grip on Grimmjow's shoulders to his ass instead, picking him up and setting him on the edge of the pool. The cool air was a welcome relief to his overheated skin, but Ichigo didn't leave him much time to appreciate it. He soon felt a wet tongue trace one of his nipples, teasing it mercilessly.

The hands that had been used to lift him from the spring wandered up and down his back, nails digging in just enough to be almost painful. They left long red scratches, just the way he loved it. Damn the bastard Shinigami; he made being the Beta well worth it and he prayed that his body's love for this sinfully delightful pleasure wouldn't betray him when it came time to battle for the position of Alpha again.

"Damn it Kurosaki," he panted.

"You want me to stop?" Ichigo asked, his voice deep and husky, sending a shiver straight up Grimmjow's spine. "I'll take that as a 'no'."

He let out a growl, but it didn't last long before it turned into a gasp of pleasure. Ichigo once more ground their throbbing erections together, the friction almost making him come undone after being ignored for what felt like forever. Ichigo smirked against his skin and moved his mouth over to the nipple that hadn't been given any attention yet.

Grimmjow let out a sigh of pleasure and let himself relax against the sand surrounding the spring as Ichigo set about pleasing him.

"I swore you were a virgin when this whole thing started," the former Espada gasped out. "Where the hell did you learn so damn much?" Ichigo's mouth worked its way down his body to pay attention to the juncture between his hip and waist, effectively silencing him.

"Mainly Keigo," Ichigo paused in his assault to answer. "And Kon," he admitted after another nipping kiss. "Keigo keeps shoving porn magazines under my nose during lunch break and after school, while Kon keeps hiding them throughout my room as if it's his own personal smut library."

Almost every word was accompanied by another nipping kiss along his thighs until the teen's cheek was rubbing against the one part of his body that he desperately wanted that sinful mouth to address.

Ichigo nuzzled against it, but he didn't let his mouth touch that particular part of his anatomy and Grimmjow frowned in displeasure as Ichigo kissed and nipped his way back up to his Beta's throat. Ichigo's mouth may have ignored him, but his Alpha's hand made up for it as it wrapped around his aching length and began to stroke it softly.

"One day I am going to find a way to permanently shut him up," the teen complained to himself. Grimmjow suddenly understood.

Ah, of course. H'tsu would most definitely not be pleased by Ichigo offering him oral pleasure. Such an action was for the Beta to offer the Alpha.

"You could always just manifest him and send him after his own Beta," Grimmjow suggested.

Ichigo stopped all of his attention and scowled at him at the suggestion.

"Or manifest them both and get Zangetsu to drag his pale ass off somewhere to leave us be," he amended hastily.

"Hmm," Ichigo hummed in agreement, but neither parts of his soul manifested and the teen continued to lick, suck and bite his way across Grimmjow's body while the calloused thumb of his hand rubbed ever so wonderfully around the tip of his shaft.

Ichigo kept him suspended in pleasure like that for an interminable length of time, bringing him to the brink before backing off. In the few moments when he could think coherently, Grimmjow vowed revenge for this torment. He would pay the teen back tenfold, he swore it.

Ichigo moved back down his body again and Grimmjow grimaced as he felt Ichigo's other hand begin to prepare his entrance. It was uncomfortable at first, but not for long as Ichigo's fingers squirmed their way right to his pleasure spot. His back arched off of the edge of the pool as the rush of sensation hit him hard and he cursed how his body held no secrets from Ichigo any longer, at least none that he knew of.

The evil bastard toyed with him again, one hand massaging his prostate while the second kept a firm grip on him and toyed with his tip using that dexterous thumb. Teeth bit at his thighs, nipping hard enough to leave marks, and he loved every minute of it.

One moment Ichigo's hands were pleasuring him; the next they were on his shoulders with the teen buried to the hilt inside of him and his teeth sank into the flesh of Grimmjow's throat. The Espada let out a cry of pleasure and shock at the sudden intrusion.

Ichigo held them still while Grimmjow adjusted to suddenly being filled by something other than slender fingers. His body may have dried off from being out of the hot spring, but an observer would never have been able to tell by looking at him, soaked as he was in sweat. Even Ichigo's skin was misted with perspiration.

He was about to order Ichigo to start moving, but before he could form the words, Ichigo pulled out and thrust back in, hitting his prostate dead on. The teen set a fast pace, one he tried to raise his hips to meet, but found it was damn near impossible to move while being pinned to the edge of the pool. It left him completely open for Ichigo.

Teeth ravaged his throat, his prostate was nailed with each thrust and one of Ichigo's hands dug into his hip to hold him steady while the other pumped his straining erection. He gritted his teeth together to stop the whines and whimpers from escaping his lips, but found it damn near impossible.

As always, Ichigo managed to make him cum first, the liquid splashing across both of their stomachs. A half dozen more thrusts and he felt the teen fill him, his teeth latching painfully onto Grimmjow's throat as Ichigo rode out his own orgasm.

They lay panting for several minutes before Ichigo slowly moved to untangle their bodies. His back was caked with sand, as was his hair. His stomach was wet with his own release and his body was soaked in sweat. In short, he definitely needed another bath. Ichigo, on the other hand, was completely clean, having remained mostly in the hot spring.

"I never thought of it before, but, uh, do we need to worry about me knocking you up again?" Ichigo asked awkwardly.

Grimmjow shot him a glare but answered truthfully.

"Until Cachorro is old enough to fend for himself, no."

Ichigo let out a sigh of relief at that.

"Besides, if it's anyone who will get 'knocked up' it's going to be you."

"We'll just have to wait and see," Ichigo chuckled.

Grimmjow glared at him, but it didn't last long. He was simply too spent after sparing, in more ways than one, to bother coming up with a good comeback.

"Come on, let's get washed up and see how the equipment is coming along. Hopefully Urahara-san and Szayel will have everything ready soon, and I know how you feel about Cachorro being out of sight for too long."

Grimmjow thought about that and then let Ichigo direct them as far cleaning themselves up went. It had been a while, and while he trusted Karin to care for his cub, she was not the strongest warrior out there. Not that he expected anything to get past the shops shields, but Ichigo was right; his Instinct didn't like his cub to be out of sight for too long.

* * *

><p>Next Chapter: Ichigo and Co take the fight to Kurotsuchi<p> 


	31. Family Ties

Family Ties

Mating and mated Hollows were rather intriguing, Kurotsuchi noted. The battle for dominance had been bloody, yet brief, and most of the damage was superficial. He attributed the short duration of the fight to the fact that one of them had already agreed to submit and after clearly testing each other for something, strength most likely, the two had fallen to mating rather easily. In Experiment A15's case, Kurotsuchi would say, it would seem that he went about the business eagerly.

The actually mating had also been bloody, with the Alpha's claws and fangs tearing into skin while the Beta only brought his claws into play. Both of them were a bloody mess by the time it was over with and yet, despite how shredded their bodies were, they had still nestled together with the Alpha wrapping protectively around the Beta, soothing the wounds he had inflicted earlier with his tongue. Considering how vain the Alpha was, Kurotsuchi was honestly surprised by how little he seemed to care that his skin was marred by scratches and his hair stained with blood.

The reiatsu monitors were even more interesting to watch. The Beta's body absorbed the shot of Reiatsu and DNA infused fluid and mixed it with his own, creating a completely new reiatsu bundle inside of the Beta's stomach area. The process didn't seem painful, but he could tell it was at least uncomfortable. Shortly after that the Beta's reiatsu took a steep, steady decline but neither Arrancar seemed concerned over it and Kurotsuchi recalled that the notes he'd copied indicated such a change would happen.

It had been just over three weeks now and as promised, the two specimens were left completely alone to tend to themselves. He was surprised how often they mated, sometimes several times a day. He briefly recalled Experiment A50, or the Beta, mentioning something about scent and reiatsu markers.

The Beta's behaviour had gone from placid to completely subservient, often baring his throat in submission and keeping his eyes adverted from his Alpha's. Experiment A50 had always been passive, but this action was a completely different thing and had a different feel to it. The Beta exhibited more emotion after the mating than Kurotsuchi had seen from him before, and yet that deferential behaviour remained and appeared completely natural.

The Alpha 's demeanour had changed as well. Experiment A15 had always been defiant and vain. While the creature's confidence seemed intact, a more mellow side had emerged with the mating. The Alpha cared for the Beta, sometimes putting the Beta's needs before his own. When they slept, the Alpha would curl protectively around the Beta, putting his own body between that of any potential danger and his mate.

When food was presented to them to see what would happen, it was the Beta who got to eat first and was tended to. He had never thought to see such nurturing instincts from Hollows. Not even Humans or Shinigami displayed such affection or self-sacrificing for their mates. It was a surprise to see it coming from such violent creatures and he had never expected to ever see such from one classified as an Alpha.

This was the only successful pair so far. All the others he had tried to get to mate frankly told him he could "fuck off' when he brought it up and if they were put together, they either completely ignored each other or fought so violently that they had to be separated before one killed the other. Now he closely monitored all potential mating partners. It was no wonder Hollow young were so rare, if the Adjuchas bred this way as well. It made sense as to why those that did breed suffered such a dramatic shift in character. With such a low gestation rate, something about the partnership itself had to change to make sure the mated pair stayed together long enough to lay and raise the cub.

"Sir, we finally have another success," Akon reported, turning his attention away from the monitor he had been watching intently for the last hour.

With all of the failures, they were running out of potential pairings, so to hear of another success was definitely thrilling. Now they could begin to determine if such a large behaviour shift was common in mating Hollows or if the first pair was simply an exception. The Beta was different from the other Hollows and that could definitely be a contributing factor.

"Who?" Kurotsuchi demanded, abandoning his own monitor to move over to Akon's.

The first pair were firmly establish and he had no fear of leaving them unmonitored for brief, or even extended, periods of time. If nothing negative had happened between them yet it was unlikely to happen now.

"Experiments A55 and A107," Akon reported.

"Wonderful," Kurotsuchi purred. "Re-label them as Alpha 2 and Beta 2 for the continuation of their experiment and update the logs."

"Yes sir. How is the original pair doing?" Akon asked.

Akon had been very busy trying to get another pair to work so he hadn't been able to follow the initial experiment too closely. With such good news, Kurotsuchi felt generous enough to let Akon in on what he'd missed.

"Interestingly. I have never seen such dramatic behaviour shifts before. The Alpha has become rather altruistic and toned down his arrogance while the Beta has turned his docile behaviour into submissiveness and is displaying actual emotion. It shouldn't be much longer before the egg is laid, and that is truly something I cannot wait to witness. I wonder if we shall see such a shift in this pair as well." Kurotsuchi mused as he shamelessly watched the two Arrancar on Akon's screen mate.

There was a lot less blood between these two but the mating was still wild. Both Experiments had rejected attempts to mate them to others and he wondered what was so different this time. Personalities? Strength? Appearance? A pheromone of some sort? Perhaps it was a combination of some or all of those things? Both had chosen the less-violent option when pressed to mate before, unless the other Hollow attacked first.

Kurotsuchi watched until the two finished mating and nodded his head in satisfaction as Alpha 2 curled around Beta 2 protectively, exactly like the original pair had done. While two sets of subjects were not a very large pool from which to draw inferences about the mating behaviour of an entire species, he still felt relatively confident that they could confirm that aspect of mating as 'typical'.

He returned to his own monitor as the new pair settled down to rest. The original pair was apparently showering. The Alpha had an obsession with his appearance. Kurotsuchi just shook his head and wondered how many times they would mate today before calling over one of his servants to take over surveillance duties. It was past time for lunch anyway and he sincerely doubted anything significant would happen in the next hour or so.

He was halfway down the hall when the perimeter breach alarm began to blare. He scowled in annoyance and turned about to return to the control room. If it was another bloody Hollow lizard, rat or bird he was going to skin someone alive. The likelihood of it being a small stray animal Hollow faded, however when he walked into control room to see most of the people staring at the screens in a state of full-blown panic.

His eyes darted to the main monitor and he felt himself pale slightly as well, before anger rose up to replace his brief lapse into fear. Displayed front and center in the monitor was none other than that infernal Hybrid, Ichigo Kurosaki, storming down the hallway and demolishing everything that got in his way. Beside him was the boy's Arrancar mate, who seemed to be enjoying the wholesale destruction he caused. There was a great deal of what one might charitably call 'unholy glee' (and others might simply label bloodthirstiness) in his bright blue eyes. The two left a trail of debris in their wake.

Kurotsuchi hastily got himself together before he began to bark out orders to his stupefied and terrified minions in a voice tinged with disbelief and rage. How dare the boy and his pet barge into his lab and interrupt his experiments? Who did they think they were?

As if that was not bad enough, another set of alarms triggered, indicating the two had not come alone. Unfortunately the monitors that might have revealed the perpetrators of this intrusion refused to work and he found himself gnashing his teeth together in frustration. They would pay dearly for this, so help him.

He would see to it personally if necessary, in as painful a way as he could possibly find.

(POV)

"I hope they will be alright," Orihime prayed aloud, voice filled with worry as they ran down the hallway.

"I am sure Kurosaki will be fine," Ishida assured her from his place in the lead.

"Do you think the decoy worked?".

"With the amount of destruction those two are causing, it would be impossible for them to fail," Ishida pointed out. "All of the attention is on them right now."

"Nothing bad will happen to Ichigo," Chad told her from his place at the rear position when Orihime looked back to him for support. "I'd worry more for the Shinigami here."

Another wave of power had Ishida shaking his head in disbelief before focusing once more on the miniature map displayed on the screen of the bracelet he was wearing. The device was one of Urahara's making, while Szayel had provided the map.

There were many secret corridors throughout the complex and they had used those to get deeper into the place and closer to their objective before Kurosaki and Grimmjow had started their rather loud and very visual distraction. Ishida was still trying to justify why they were here attempting to help a bunch of Hollows that were probably just going to try and kill them the moment they opened the cell doors. There were plenty of reasons to do this that had nothing to do with the Quincy objectives: ethics, a sense of right and wrong, support for a friend whose son had been put in jeopardy by the man they hunted now. It wasn't that Ishida cared much for Hollows as a whole. In the end however, he couldn't help but admit that on a persona note, he would do anything to get back at the man that had violently murdered his grandfather, not to mention grasping at a rare chance to stick one to the Shinigami that had ordered the destruction of his kind.

"Shit," he cursed as the other device strapped to his hip started to beep and pulse.

"What is it?" Orihime asked concerned.

"We tripped an alarm," he scowled as he pulled out the second device, this one put together by Szayel. The Espada had designed it to mess with the cameras and other active sensors. "They know we are here," he growled.

"Hopefully they will be too busy dealing with Ichigo and Grimmjow to investigate us," Chad offered.

"Hopefully, but I wouldn't count on it."

"What should we do?" Orihime asked.

"Here." Ishida fell back and handed her the bracelet map. "If the prisoners would recognize and trust anyone long enough to pass on the message, it would be you. You were there in Hueco Mundo. Some of them might be familiar with you. Try and get them out of here and be careful."

"Alright," Orihime gave a firm nod of her head as they separated at the next corridor.

Ishida could feel the flux of power coming from the Shinigami heading their way. Compared to people like Szayel and Kurotsuchi, however, these had little reiatsu to call their own. Even Jirobo the Gatekeeper was far more powerful than these fools. The only concern he had was in regard to their numbers. He could sense that neither Kurotsuchi nor Nemu was amongst them, and those were the only two threats he was honestly worried about. Between him and Chad, Ishida decided that they'd have no problem giving Orihime the time she needed to get the prisoners free.

(POV)

Orihime ran through the halls until she finally reached the cells, long hair streaming behind her. She paused before the first one, feeling very nervous about opening that door; more so because she was afraid of what she would see than from any real fear of the occupant. Steeling her resolve, she pulled out the key card Szayel and Kisuke had worked out and swiped it. After a moment the door slid open to reveal what appeared to be an empty room at first.

She felt relief that there wasn't a mangled body lying on the floor, mutilated past recognition like her wild imagination had conjured. Instead, a far more mortifying sight met her eyes and she squeaked in shock before her hands darted to cover her face, a blush erupting over her cheeks.

For a moment the room was silent until one of them finally dared to speak.

"Orihime?"

"I am _so_ sorry," she apologized. "I didn't know you would be naked," she squeaked.

"You know this broad, Tesra?"

"This is the human girl Aizen had Ulquiorra captured," Tesra answered.

"Chu, the way she is acting it's like there is something wrong with our bodies."

"No, no, no, no, that's not it at all," Orihime waved her arms frantically and bravely looked at the two Arrancar that had clearly just gotten out of the shower. She tried to focus on their faces as best she could and did her level best to keep her eyes from roaming any lower over their toned, damp bodies than their necks.

"Why are you here?" Tesra asked warily.

"Oh! That's right! We are here to rescue you", she announced as if suddenly remembering her purpose, and beamed. "Szayel-san gave me this as proof of friendship or something like that," she declared as she pulled out a small, square device and handed it over to Tesra, or tried to.

The other Arrancar quickly moved between them and took it from her hand before grunting and handing it back with a grimace of annoyance, not even bothering to activate it to retrieve the message.

"Yeah, that's his reiatsu alright, and only he would build something this stupid. So you are here to rescue us? A human girl?"

"I didn't come alone. Ishida-san and Sado are here too, and Kurosaki-kun and Grimmjow-san are creating a distraction elsewhere."

The second Arrancar stiffened at the former Espada's name.

"Grimmjow is here? Rescuing us?" he exclaimed, his voice a mixture of shock and disbelief.

"Uh huh. Once you are out of the cell you will be able to feel his reiatsu. Umm, but can you put some clothes on first," she blushed again and made a point to avert her eyes.

"We don't have any," Tesra answered, a little awkwardly.

"Oh." Orihime's blush deepened.

The two Arrancar hesitantly stepped out of the cell with a bit of coaxing and some reassurances that this was not one of Kurotsuchi's ploys or traps. Instantly they both looked in the direction of the fighting, sensing the outbursts of reiatsu. A strange mix of relief and anxiety crossed the as-of-yet named Arrancar's face.

"Come on, we have to get the others," she urged. "And maybe find you something to wear," she added with yet another deep blush.

The two fell into step behind her as she made her way to the next cell, swiping the card to open the door. This one was empty so she moved to the next.

"I never did catch your name," she pointed out as they moved down the hallway, the silence starting to bother her a bit.

"Yylfordt Grantz,"

Orihime almost dropped the key card as she tried to open the door and turned to stare at him in shock.

"Then…"

"Yeah, the pink-haired bastard is my younger brother. Not surprised he isn't here though, he always was a coward," Yylfordt grumbled, his dislike for his sibling worn on the sleeve of his non-existent clothing.

"That's not true," Orihime countered, feeling the need to defend the absent Arrancar. "He wanted to come but Kurosaki-kun wouldn't let him because he's still badly injured and he has to care for Cachorro and his own egg."

"Cachorro?" both Arrancar asked curiously at the same time.

"Uh huh, Kurosaki-kun and Grimmjow-san's son. He is so adorable!" she gushed.

"Grimmjow has a cub? With a Shinigami?" Yylfordt actually stopped moving, shocked by the revelation.

"Yes, although I am not so sure we can call Kurosaki-kun a Shinigami anymore. He's sort like a, oh, what did Hirako-san call him again… oh, a Vizard," she recalled after thinking about it for a moment.

"And _Grimmjow_ is letting _Szayel_ watch his cub?"

"Yep. Cachorro seems to really like him."

"And Szayel has an egg of his own, meaning he actually mated _and_ took the role of a Beta?"

Orihime nodded her head, moving down to the next door, oblivious to the fact that the Arrancar's voice had gone up a notch or two in amazement.

"I thought he could only take such a role?" Orihime questioned confused. "At least that is what I understood from the conversation."

"Who mated him?" Tesra inquired while Yylfordt stood stunned in the hallway as he digested the shocking news about his brother.

"Oh, um, H'tsu I think his name was," Orihime answered absently, getting the next door open before letting out another surprised 'meep' and adverting her gaze while blushing violently, muttering about an immediate need for garments and decency.

Tesra made to go to the door but was stopped by Yylfordt, who recovered from his shock quickly and gave him a significant look. Tesra silently backed down and stepped aside, averting his gaze submissively to let his Alpha take the lead. The news may have initially stunned the Arrancar, but he seemed to be coping with it rather well.

"Yylfordt? I thought you were dead?" a rough female voice accused.

"You can't kill perfection this good. Hurry up and let's go. Apparently there is a prison break going on."

"They couldn't have done it two hours ago?" the female hissed in anger.

"Can it Mila Rose, and be thankful we are getting you out at all."

"Up yours, Blondie!"

A moment later two more Arrancar joined those in the hallway and Orihime vowed to find them something to wear soon. As soon as they were out of the room, both new Arrancar snapped their gazes to where the reiatsu flared in battle.

"Is that Grimmjow?" Mila Rose gasped. "And... Ichigo, wasn't it?"

"Hai, come on, we got to get the others out," the young woman urged.

Orihime took the lead, not so much out of wanting to be the team leader but rather so she wouldn't have to stare at their very naked bodies. The rest of the cells down this hall were empty so she turned down the second block and started there.

In these cells the nightmares she had dreamed about became reality. These Arrancar were in various states of recovery, some of them in very bad shape. She passed the key card to Tesra simply because he was the only one she truly knew. He passed it to the strange male they had found with Mila Rose and stayed silent in the corner where Yylfordt hovered protectively over him.

Orihime might have questioned the odd behaviour but she was far too busy healing what she could of the Arrancar the four initial escapees brought to her. She wanted to heal them of all of their pains, to wipe away what Kurotsuchi and his men had done to them, but she didn't have the time. She had to get them mobile and out before someone realized what was going on and tried to stop them. In their current conditions only Yylfordt and Gantenbainne (the name of the other Arrancar they had come across earlier) were in any shape to offer any sort of true resistance. Tesra was physically fine but completely drained of reiatsu and Mila Rose was clearly weakened as well, but better off than Tesra. The rest were mangled messes.

When they had released the last prisoner and made sure that the Hollow were able to stand, she pulled out the last device Szayel had given her. This one, if it worked properly (something Orihime hoped with all of her being) would open a portal to Urahara's basement, where there would hopefully be medical staff waiting for them.

With shaking fingers, she pushed the buttons down in the order that Kisuke had showed her and tossed it into the air. At first nothing seemed to happen and she began to panic, but slowly a portal formed before them, showing a brightly-lit desert and lots of blue sky.

"How do we know you aren't just leading us into another trap?" someone asked hesitantly, sounding more than a little mistrustful. She couldn't really blame the speaker for doubting her intentions, even though she had probably patched them up enough to get them mobile.

"Anywhere is better than here," someone else pointed out.

Tesra and Yylfordt were the first to stride through the portal with hardly any hesitation. Coming down on the other side, the two males blinked into the bright light, only to see the rest of the rescue operation waiting for them. Then, with the fear of what they'd just been through overcoming any reservations about the unknowns that lay beyond it, the rest of the Arrancar began their escape.

* * *

><p>It's a two pronged attack *holds up an appetizer fork in a viscous pose.<p>

scarletscorn. deviantart. com

This wonderful woman has drawn two pieces of fanart, one for POV and one for RK. Go check her amazing pictures out. A Cachorro-kun, so cute.

So yes, A15 was Yylfordt and A50 was Tesra. I just couldn't resist including Szayel's brother in all this, and really, who would be a better revenge target for Kurotsuchi? Technically, he was only knocked off screen and anyone knocked off screen has a small chance of being alive, right? I was very displeased the Anime totally mess up his fight with Renji by including those stupid dolls from the Bount filler so this is my pay back for it.

Glad I got you all with Szayel and his cub, more so that I had you all ready to sob for him. *puffed up chest. Even happier you all enjoyed hot tub sex. See you all Next Chapter: Where the rest of the clean up occurs and Ichigo meets Szayel's brother


	32. Pack

Pack

Resistance was minimal at best. Grimmjow, in the few seconds between bouts of dishing out some punishment to the Shinigami that Kurotsuchi had sent after them, had correctly labelled it as 'pathetic.' Ichigo didn't even bother wasting time with Zangetsu as he and Grimmjow batted aside any Shinigami foolish enough to cross their path, leaving a trail of unconscious and moaning bodies behind them. Soon after making their grand and destructive entrance they had both felt their reiatsu suddenly plummet as the device Szayel warned them about activated. It didn't last long though, as their countering device kicked in and their reiatsu returned, albeit fluctuating a little.

As Grimmjow had surmised, that hardly mattered. These people barely stood a chance against them and, in all honesty, the lessening of his strength made Ichigo feel better. This way, there was less of a chance that he might seriously cripple someone accidentally. The people they were mowing their way through were nothing more than Kurotsuchi's pawns and barely qualified as cannon fodder. It also wasn't their fault their leader was insane. Their only real crime was to be in the wrong Division at what was definitely the wrong time.

It was Grimmjow who realized that the first of the prisoners were now on the move, having a greater capability at sensing reiatsu than Ichigo. A look of surprise crossed Grimmjow's face before he gave his head a shake, casually batting aside another worm who collided painfully with a wall.

"Something wrong?" Ichigo inquired, concerned.

"Nah, just felt something strange," Grimmjow grunted and went back to cracking heads as if nothing was wrong.

By the time the two of them made it to the detention block, Orihime was already gone with the prisoners and the hallway was littered with unconscious bodies. Chad and Ishida were busy mopping up, tending to the fallen Shinigami to make sure that none of the damage they'd inflicted was permanent.

"Any problems?" Ichigo questioned.

"No," Ishida assured him. For all that the young man was willing to clean up his messes, the Quincy still had a rather smug look on his face as he surveyed the destruction.

There was a surge of power that even Ichigo sensed, even if he didn't recognize what it was.

"That would be Kurotsuchi running away," Ishida said, and scowled in anger.

"This was highly disappointing. I thought the Shinigami trash would have put up a better fight than this," Grimmjow muttered, clearly annoyed at having lost their quarry after he'd put forth the effort of taking out the man's staff.

"We did come in well-prepared," Ishida pointed out. "Things might have gotten uglier if Szayel hadn't warned us about the suppression device and devised a way to counter it."

"You mean it might have actually been interesting," Grimmjow countered and looked around in disgust, hands planted on his hips. " I swear, I've had naps that were more productive."

"Let's get to the control room and call in," Ichigo ordered, stopping the argument in its tracks before it could start. "Urahara-san said it would be a good idea to gather as much data as we can from the computers, since the old man isn't going to like us busting up a Shinigami camp without good cause."

"At least Unohana-san should be waiting for Inoue to return with the prisoners. A medical report should help your case and I doubt most of them were in very good shape," Ishida indicated. Ichigo nodded at his friend's line of reasoning.

The four of them made their way to the control room, where the once gleaming computers were now utterly destroyed. Ichigo gritted his teeth and had to stop himself from throwing a temper tantrum like some spoiled child.

"_Relax, Ichigo,__"_Zangetsu soothed him. _"__Szayel mentioned this would probably happen. He suggested checking to see if the backups might be undamaged.__"_

"_Right_," Ichigo sent back, forcing himself to calm down with a few deep breaths.

Ishida, of course, was already a couple of steps ahead of him and moved over to what appeared to be a normal section of wall. After a minute of searching, the Quincy let out a sound of satisfaction. He carefully pushed inward and the wall moved. Then he pulled the panel to the side, revealing another short corridor and what appeared to be several grey towers.

"Looks like the backups are fine. Assuming the data backed up, we should have all the information we need to pin Kurotsuchi to a wall," Ishida snickered.

"Chad?" Ichigo turned his attention to his oldest friend, who was just closing the cell phone-like device Kisuke had given them before they departed.

Chad looked up at him and gave a nod of his head. A moment later a gate opened. Kisuke stepped through with Tessai by his side.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun, another successful endeavour," Kisuke greeted him pleasantly, waving his ever-present fan at the young man. He reached up and raised his hat briefly in acknowledgement. "You never cease to amaze me.'

"Orihime and the others made it out?"

"Hai, hai... Orihime-chan and Unohana-san are seeing to them as we speak, but you should get back soon. Your escapees are getting restless without a powerful Alpha around to control them and at the moment, they're surrounded by powerful Shinigami. It would seem Kurotsuchi did manage to get a few of them to mate and those Alpha's are definitely getting twitchy. I'd hate to have to bill you for the repairs to my basement."

Ichigo's eyebrow twitched at that, but he nodded all the same.

"Right, I'll leave you and Ishida to the data then."

The teenager turned to the gate and took a deep, calming breath before purposefully striding through. Chad and Grimmjow followed him while Ishida remained behind to help Kisuke. The moment Ichigo was through he could feel the tension in the air, a tension that eased slightly as many of the Arrancar instantly recognized the former Espada by his side. With a bit of direction from H'tsu, Ichigo let his own power pulse across the field; strong as hell and clearly tasting of the darker aspects of a Hollow.

Grimmjow surveyed the field before blinking in surprise and heading off in one direction. Ichigo followed him, puzzled, and watched as the Arrancar they passed dropped their gazes in submission. The anxiety surrounding the lot of them slowly eased as they walked, until they stopped before a particular pair that stood some distance away from the others.

Ichigo recognized one of them at once. Tesra hid meekly behind the other long, blond-haired Arrancar and the two were clearly mated. This far along even he could feel the reiatsu forming inside the submissive-acting Hollow.

Unlike the rest of the Hollows who had bowed their heads before them, the Arrancar guarding Tesra met their gazes warily, his body coiled tightly as if expecting a fight. Something about him seemed familiar but Ichigo just couldn't put his finger on it. Thankfully, his mate supplied the explanation.

"I thought you were dead," Grimmjow grumbled.

"Fucking Shinigami got a hold of me before I could get back home. I felt the others die though."

Ichigo watched the exchange in confusion as the apprehension between the two remained thick. Grimmjow looked past the Alpha of the pair to regard Tesra, who flinched at the scrutiny and looked ready to flee at a moment's notice. When he spoke again, Grimmjow addressed Tesra, not the Alpha, surprising Ichigo.

"You know, I should off you right now after your master tried to snuff me after my battle with Kurosaki," Grimmjow snarled, causing Tesra to flinch and his Alpha to move into a more defensive position. "But I won't because Kurosaki won't let me," he snorted, a little irritably, and then sighed, deflating a little. "It's fine Yylfordt, keep your Beta and your Cub," Grimmjow said and reached up to rub his forehead, as if the whole situation gave him a headache. "I know Ichigo won't care since he dragged your poor excuse of a brother home with him already."

At that simple statement all of the tension seemed to drain completely out of the situation.

"_Wait,__"_ Ichigo thought, _"__what was that last part?__"_ he silently questioned. "Brother?" he repeated, confused by this point.

Grimmjow moved off towards the other mated pair that also stood alone. There were two other females hovering around them, but everyone else was giving them a wide berth… a very wide berth if the expression on the Alpha of that pair's face was any indication of his mood and temperament.

"Szayel is my younger brother," Yylfordt explained, eyeing Ichigo up and down. "Grimmjow mated you?" he exclaimed.

"No, I mated him," Ichigo corrected as H'tsu practically screamed in his mind in objection to such a thought.

That brought a look of shock to the faces of every Arrancar near enough to hear. Somewhat mollified by Ichigo's correction of his inferior, H'tsu quieted down for a moment before once more directing Ichigo's actions with a voice that sounded half-annoyed and half-gleeful.

"Your brother and former Pack Alpha already have a place in my pack. You are welcome to join it as well," Ichigo offered hesitantly.

Tesra stared up at him in surprise before quickly averting his gaze. Yylfordt studied him for a moment before nodding his head and offering him a smile.

"Sure, why not bro?"

"You need to add 'in-law' to that," Ichigo's absently corrected as he carried on, completely missing the startled look on the two Arrancar's faces.

He listened absently as H'tsu continued to guide him, reminding him of the workings of Hollow packs. He was the Primary Alpha, the leader. It was his choice whether or not to let them live, die, mate or even accept them. That was why there had been such strain and a sense of hostility between Grimmjow and Yylfordt. Yylfordt hadn't had Grimmjow's permission to breed (nor had he known the role of Pack Alpha had changed) and it would have been within Grimmjow's right to terminate the Beta or even punish them both in some way.

Ichigo felt a welling of pride that his mate hadn't done anything else but accept the situation, despite his obvious dislike of Tesra or, more fittingly, Tesra's previous Pack Alpha. It was a sign of just how far the former Espada had come in the months they had been living together.

The teen swept his gaze out over the anxious assembly and he realized most of them were actually afraid of him, or at least mistrustful of his intentions. It was almost as if they expected him to do something terrible to them, although after everything Kurotsuchi had done to them he was honestly not surprised to see fear in their eyes.

"_**Most of **__**are afraid that they have been moved from one prison to another. The rest fear being banished, of not being accepted by you,**__**"**_H'tsu explained. "_**In their current conditions, many of them would perish quickly or be recaptured if forced out on their own.**__**"**_

Ichigo knew what needed to be done and he silently bid his once easy life another fond farewell. Some of these people needed him, and he had never been very good at backing down from responsibility. He had freed them and now they were his to care for until they could fend for themselves. He felt Grimmjow come back up beside him, his mate giving him a strange look before shaking his head in exasperation.

"Too soft, Shinigami," he muttered.

"Too responsible," Ichigo countered, correcting his mate. "And I don't hear you objecting too much," he pointed out.

"It was getting too damn quiet and lonely," Grimmjow admitted, relenting a little.

"Of course," Ichigo offered him the barest hint of a smile.

He gathered his thoughts and sent out a pulse of his reiatsu to make sure he had everyone's attention, though most were watching him intently to see what he would do. Ichigo didn't keep them waiting long.

"You are free to go if you wish, but be warned, I will not tolerate any aggression against my family, friends, humans or even Shinigami in anything other than self-defence. I will kill you without hesitation if I find out such an act has been perpetrated."

"If you wish to stay and join my pack, you are welcome to do so, but the same rules will apply and I will not tolerate anything but, for lack of a better word, proper humane behaviour. You have some time to think about it."

The crowd stirred at his announcement and after a moment, those who were in better shape quickly departed. Some left alone, others in two's or three's. Ichigo didn't bother to watch them leave. They were no longer his to deal with unless they crossed paths with him again.

Ichigo headed towards where those with the worst wounds were. Orihime offered him a smile, her golden shield healing an Arrancar that was more mangled flesh than creature. Beside her Unohana was healing another, her hands glowing softly and her voice serene as she listed the injustices done to her patient's body while Yoruichi recorded it down in a note book.

"Nel?" he asked quickly, not wasting any time. This time it was Orihime's turn to look utterly relieved.

"There was no sign of her there, or her brothers," Orihime answered with a soft smile.

Ichigo let out a soft sigh. Nel had thankfully been spared the fate so many others had suffered. Hopefully, she was still out in the desert playing Endless Tag with her brothers and their pet.

"Thank you for helping, Unohana-san," Ichigo said to the small, dark-haired woman.

"It is my pleasure Kurosaki-san," she replied and offered him a warm smile. "That was a very stirring speech, but what do you plan on doing with the ones that choose to remain? You cannot hope to house them all in the Living Realm should they all accept your offer."

"I don't plan to. Hueco Mundo is where they belong. It is their home; it doesn't belong to the Shinigami." he said. A frown marred his face before his eyes hardened. "Are you almost done here?" he inquired.

Unohana nodded and stood up. "Yes. Do you still plan to go through with the initial plan?" she enquired, an assessing look on her face.

Ichigo's steeled his will and nodded in return. He hated creating conflict, but he hated letting injustice get its way even more, especially when there was something he could do about it.

"Very well," Unohana said.

There was a stirring of panic among the remaining Arrancar and he could feel the portal opening. Ichigo looked up in time to see Kisuke, Tessai and Ishida return through it, a look of satisfaction on their faces and their arms laden with computer equipment. Clearly they had managed to get the information they needed.

"Let's go see Cachorro while Urahara-san extracts the data we will need," Ichigo suggested to Grimmjow.

Family was family, so before they retreated up the ladder Ichigo approached Tesra and Yylfordt and offered to let them come along. Both gratefully accepted and he could tell it was a great relief to them both to escape the larger crowd.

Szayel was resting in his bed, curled up protectively around his egg with Cachorro nestled in the small dip made between Arrancar and egg. The moment Cachorro noticed them his son let out a pleased yowl, crawling out of the bed to get to his parents.

Grimmjow moved forward and scoped their son up, a rare smile of pleasure on his lips as Cachorro nestled against him. Ichigo reached over and gave his son a scratch behind the ears, earning more pleased mewls between head butts. Szayel, on the other hand, completely ignored them and stared up in disbelief, and apprehension, at the two intruders to the den.

"Holy shit, the broad was right!" Yylfordt laughed as he strode confidently into the room and up to his younger brother.

Szayel glared at him and opened his mouth to make some sort of smart-assed remark before closing it and looking past Yylfordt to where Tesra hovered uncomfortably in the background, pressed against the wall.

"I see you have mated as well," Szayel noted, nodding at the shy Arrancar.

"Yeah, well I couldn't say no to a free sex, especially after being injected with a thousand pounds of shit, dissected a thousand times over…'

"Vivisected," Szayel absently corrected him, although Yylfordt continued right over him as if he hadn't spoken.

"…and being denied even the most basic of grooming tools."

The brothers shared a shiver at such a horror and Yylfordt continued after making a face. "The offer to be left alone for a few months was too tempting to pass up. At least the freak chose someone with a half-decent ass. What's your excuse?"

"One of my experiments split Ichigo's soul into its base parts and the Hollow half took a liking to my eyes," he answered vaguely.

"So the in-law thing…" Yylfordt looked over at Ichigo, who had been watching the exchange with some amusement. Ichigo confirmed his suspicions.

"Technically speaking, H'tsu and I, we are the same person, two parts of the same soul. Ergo, Hijastro is going to be as much my cub as Cachorro. Speaking of cubs", Ichigo added and looked over to Tesra, "...how long until you lay?"

"A week," Tesra answered meekly.

"That Shinigami bastard certainly didn't waste any time, did he?" Grimmjow observed dryly.

"How many couples?" Szayel questioned, with far too much curiosity.

"Just two," Ichigo answered. "By the way, if your cub is going to be called Hijastro, what is theirs going to be called?"

"Ternero or Ternera, depending on gender," Yylfordt answered after a moment.

Ichigo stared at them in confusion.

"It means 'calf', since Yylfordt's base form is a bull. It would be fitting," Grimmjow explained.

"Oh, that would make sense. Is that common then?"

"Nothing about this situation is common. One cub is rare, two even rarer, but three in one pack is utterly unheard of," Szayel spoke up.

"So what does that make four?" Ichigo couldn't help ask.

"I would be surprised if Rose and her Alpha stuck around. It is different for Tesra and I since Szayel is family and Grimmjow and I are already a pack," Yylfordt answered. "It makes it easier for our Instincts to accept one another. The other pair hasn't any connection with us and will likely leave fairly soon here, since they are both physically fine."

Ichigo looked over to where Tesra still lurked uncertainly in the corner.

"You don't happen to be a Natural Born Beta as well, are you?" Ichigo asked offhandedly.

"No," Tesra shook his head.

"And this Mila Rose person? Is she one or can she feed her cub, being female?"

"She should be fine," Szayel waved the concern aside before sighing and looking over at his brother and Tesra. "You really still love to make my life miserable, don't you?" he complained.

"I hear it's what big brothers are supposed to do," Yylfordt grinned at him, but it held apprehension as well. Szayel looked once more over to Tesra and let out a suffering sigh.

"Three," he muttered in annoyance. "If your cub is named after a calf, I swear, I might just have to grow an udder to accommodate everyone. Come over here Tesra," he ordered firmly.

Tesra hesitated, but right now Szayel had a much higher standing in the pack than himself or Yylfordt, since he was essentially having one of the Primary Alpha's cubs and was more powerful than either of the two of them.

Tesra approached carefully until he stood next to his own Alpha, who silently put a reassuring arm round his shoulders to help hold the nervous Beta steady.

Szayel let out another sigh before resting a hand gently against Tesra's stomach, probing softly with his own, slowly restoring reiatsu to get a feel for the forming cub. The forming reiatsu paused before continuing its soft pulsing.

"If need be, there should be no problem feeding this cub as well," Szayel sighed. "But after this I swear I am getting you all fixed!" he threatened.

That teased a laugh out of nearly everyone, and even Tesra gave off a nervous little chuckle.

"Kurosaki-san."

Everyone turned to face a tired-looking Unohana, who remained at the door and didn't enter the room.

"I have done what I can and dare tarry no longer. Kisuke-san said he should be ready with the information you need soon and will send you after me. No doubt Kurotsuchi-Taichou has called for a meeting already. I will delay any outcomes the best I can with what evidence I've gathered."

"Thank you Unohana-san," Ichigo offered her a short bow. "I will follow as soon as I can. And thank you again, for everything you have done for us."

"You're welcome," she offered them a small smile before turning and departing.

Ichigo sighed and ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"I still don't like the idea of you going without me," Grimmjow growled.

"I know, but if you came with me it would only make matters worse and if something were to happen, at least one of us will be here to watch over our son, and growing pack. Unfortunately, I don't think you would have much luck getting anyone to listen to you, so that leaves me."

"And I won't be going alone. Yoruichi-san is coming with me. Hopefully, if everything goes right, we won't have to worry about anything like this happening again."

"And if nothing goes right?" Grimmjow retorted, challenging Ichigo's assumption that he'd have an easy time of things in the Seireitei. "Because with you, **nothing** ever goes right."

"Then we will make it right," Ichigo answered firmly. "Just like I **always** do," the teen reassured him.

Yoruichi arrived before anything more could be said, to let Ichigo know they had everything they needed. Her arrival prevented further conversation or argument. Ichigo paused to scratch Cachorro's ears once more and pulled a kiss out of his mate, one that clearly demonstrated who the Alpha was, before following her out. It was time to hopefully put an end to this.

* * *

><p>If you where Kurotsuchi, would you stand up against the person who defeated Aizen and another powerful opponent after the suppression devices spectacularly failed? Heck, even Ishida nearly offed him in season three, so yeah, he's the kind of coward I would see running with his tail tucked between his cowardly legs.<p>

Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews. Looks like spring is in the air and it is a beautiful day outside, so I am going to take the time to enjoy it. Stay tuned for the next chapter, sometime next week and Happy Easter Weekend if you celebrate such things.

Everyone else (Other than Harribel's fraccion and Gantenbainne) are unnamed Arrancar and will disappear as they heal enough to do so. Only Yylfordt and Tesra will stick around in the long run since one is both pack and family and the other is now a Mated Beta to the pack.


	33. Leadership

Leadership

Their prediction had been right. By the time Unohana arrived back in Soul Society she was instantly informed by Hanataro that a meeting had been called and that the wounded from Ichigo and Grimmjow's assault had all been seen to with nothing more serious than bruised bodies and pride; truly commendable considering hollows had very little love for Shinigami. She politely thanked Hanataro, amused at the blush that lit up his face at the compliment, and calmly made her way towards the meeting hall, not even pausing to clean the blood off of her uniform. Normally she would never desire to appear as anything but immaculate and serene, but in this case she felt the gore would help Ichigo's case, and she truly wished to help the teen.

He had been the one to save them all from Aizen's rather well laid down plot and if anyone had dared to attack her own child, well, Kuortsuchi got off rather easy as far as she was concerned. Ichigo and his mate had every right to tear the man into a million little pieces.

She couldn't help the smile that touched her lips as she though of little Cachorro. The cub was so adorable and the furthest thing away from a monster despite his hollow heritage. More shockingly, she had witness how much a hollow's demeanour changed around their cubs, even someone as violent as Grimmjow suddenly became a completely different creature when his son was there and demanding his attention.

Approaching the meeting hall she could hear Kurotsuchi's voice raised in anger. She paused outside the door and listened patiently, waiting for a quiet moment to make her entrance. She usually wasn't one for theatrics, but today she would indulge in them.

Right now she could here Kenpachi and Kurotuschi arguing with each other, a rather common occurrence. She couldn't quite make out the words, but she didn't need to. Their so called 'conversations' seldom changed much. 'Weakling,' 'mindless brute' and a large slew of other synonyms frequently flew between the two men during meetings.

Finally, someone else spoke up, Jushiro she guessed since the voice was masculine and very soft, silencing the two men long enough to give her the pause she had been waiting for. She opened the doors and entered the room serenely, all eyes instantly darting her way and everyone noticing the blood still splattered on her uniform.

"Forgive my late appearance, I was delayed caring for the injured that came into my care," she apologised politely.

"I was unaware there had been a disturbance large enough to warrant your personal attention," Soi Fon frowned, clearly thinking the disturbance had been here and her division had failed to notice and report it.

"What was the disturbance?" Jushiro questioned concerned. "And is everyone alright?"

"Physically, everyone should be fine. Orihime-chan's ability to heal the body never ceases to amaze me," she praised the human. "Physiologically, well, that is a different matter and one not in my field of study," she finished her answer as she took her place in line.

"Orihime-chan? What were you doing in the Living Realm?" Soi Fon demanded, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"I was doing Kurosaki-san a favour, but I have a feeling that this meeting might be tied to that," she turned her gaze over to where Kurtouschi was all but glaring at her. "My apologies for interrupting and late appearance once again," she smiled serenely at him.

If his face hadn't been covered in paint, she strongly suspected it would be bright red with rage right now. There was a monitor set up, the scene frozen on it was that of Ichigo and Grimmjow tearing up the complex. She had a hard time holding back a satisfied smile at the image.

She much preferred the path of peace, but sometimes such a path was not viable. She strongly respected the fact that Ichigo had gone in and freed the prisoners without undue damage to the unfortunate troops who had been placed in his way. Hanataro's report indicated everyone was pretty much fine and would be released by tomorrow evening at the latest. Considering who and what they had angered, they were lucky no one had been out right slaughtered.

"You, you helped that whelp attack my division?" Kurotsuchi snarled at her in accusation.

"I do not recall going into Hueco Mundo nor attacking anyone or anything," she responded sweetly. "If you would like a record of what I have been up to for the last few weeks, I have it right here," she indicated the note book. "Would you like me to read from it?" she questioned innocently.

"Perhaps it would be wise if someone else did, a neutral party, just to make sure the words are read true," Shunsui spoke up, not because he distrusted her, but because he understood the situation and was making things smoother for all around.

"How do we know the words written in there are true?" Kurotsuchi challenged.

"How do we know the words in your own reports are true?" she returned the question, holding back her pleasure at seeing him stiffen in outrage. "I trust your words as a professional, do you not trust mine?" she offered.

"Unohana-taichou is not known for falsifying records. Soi Fon, please take the log and read from it," Yamamoto ordered sternly, speaking up for the first time since her arrival.

"Hai, Sotaichou," Soi Fon saluted.

Unohana passed the journal over. Soi Fon opened to the first page and began to read. The very first thing in it was the first patient she'd had; Szayel. It was rather fitting and she felt shock ripple through the room the moment it was mentioned he was 'pregnant,' although his list of injures garnered a few winces. Judging by the shocked look on Kurotsuchi's face, he had been unaware of Szayel condition at the time of his assault.

"Pregnant?" Yamamoto demanded, his eyes narrowing.

"If hollows can now bred, this could be a very potential threat. Arrancar are not to be trifled with," Toshiro commented with a weary frown.

"Grimmjow-san was surprisingly forthcoming on hollow mating, and I myself was shocked to discover that Hollows of an Adjucus level at least have been mating for generations to no ill affect. I found how this occurs rather curious, but I am sure that Kurotsuchi-taichou could fill us in on the actual details much better than I could," she smiled at him.

All eyes turned to face him. Ah, so he hadn't mentioned that part of his research, or she had arrived before he could.

"What makes you think that?" he questioned nervously.

"Soi Fon-taicho, could you please skip to page twenty four of my report," she requested.

Soi Fon looked at Yamamoto, who nodded his head in agreement. Flipping through the book she made it to the page that held her information she had gathered on Tesra and Yylfordt, including the little tidbit they had shared with her about it being Kurotsuchi who had coerced them into mating.

"It is only strategic sense to know what ones enemy is capable of," Kurotsuchi was quick to defend himself as all eyes once again looked his way. "Not all of Aizen's Arrancar were accounted for and knowing if they were capable of reproducing themselves without that stupid jewel is only common sense. Imagine having an new army of them coming down upon us? Now at least we know and can prepare for it."

"He is right, Soutaichou," Soi Fon agreed.

"Perhaps," Unohana agreed. "But how do we know that our continued inference in a world not our own wont be the catalyst that brings about that potential war? Have you informed everyone yet that the reason Kurosaki-san and Grimmjow-san attacked your outpost was because you attempted to apprehend and harm his son?" she questioned the room.

A variety of shocked exclamations met her question, most noticeably from the teens collection of close friends amongst the fukutaichou. Even Yamamoto raised an eye at her statement. The room remained in chaos for a moment before Yamamoto brought it back under control with a wave of reiatsu and his staff beating on the floor.

"Enough. Unohana-taichou, are you implying that Kurosaki Ichigo has mated with a hollow and has produced a child from such a union?" Yamamoto demanded.

"A rather adorably cub," she smiled sweetly at the memory of Cachorro. "Szayel-san has been keeping record of everything involving the mating, both theirs and his own, since according to them these are the very first instances of Arrancar mating. He has generously agreed to share the information with us, as he already has with Urahara-san, providing of course no further action is taken again Kurosaki-san and his growing pack." She paused for a moment before adding, "Isshin-san is quite ecstatic to be a grandfather."

That brought about a stirring for those that knew the man. She pulled out a picture of Cachorro, curled up between his parents and passed it to the person standing beside her.

"This is Ichigo's son? It looks like a rather large kitten," Komamaru commented as he studied the picture before passing it on.

"Indeed, apparently because Grimmjow-san was a panther like Adjucus, Cachorro-kun has taken after that aspect of his heritage," she explained.

Slowly, the picture went around the room, initiating various responses, although the biggest obvious change of heart had to be Soi Fon, who practically melted at the sight of the grey cub. She always did have a soft spot for anything cat related thanks to her hero worship of Yoruichi. Byakuya hardly even glanced at it and Yamamoto didn't even bat an eye at the rather cute picture.

"Tsu, I didn't know it was his cub at the time," Kurotushci snorted when several sets of eyes turned accusing gazes his way. "And I never went back after them once I learned! He still had no right to attack my subordinates and destroy my research, let alone release the dangerous prisoners we were holding, all of which Central 46 was well aware of and approved off."

With that, the argument kicked off again. Unohana let it, for while her log was detailed, the images Kurosaki should be bringing would paint a far more horrific picture as to the treatment of said prisoners. Every society had their prisons, the Maggot's Nest was a prime example, but it was truly nothing more than a holding facility. No deranged experimentation went on down there, just confinement.

She felt Yoruichi's reiatsu brush against hers, letting her know they had arrived. Good, now all they would need was the perfect break. She doubted Kurotsuchi would suffer more than a slap on the wrist for this endeavour, as much as she wished more could and would be done. Hollows were not citizens, they were creatures to be killed when they showed up outside of their own world. The best they could hope for was to prevent any further atrocities from being committed.

(POV)

It had been some time since Ichigo had been here last, and the streets were honestly just as confusing as ever. Fortunately, Yoruichi seemed to know where they were going and walked down the streets with confidence at a rather leisurely pace, one Ichigo truly wished she would both pick up and, at the same time, slow down. He was truly not looking forward to the up coming confrontation. Hopefully, they had gathered a good enough case that the old man would listen to him. He really had no desire to fight those he had come to call friend.

Eventually they broke out of the maze like streets and approached an official looking building with the Kanji for one emblazoned on the gates inside of a diamond. Even from the street they could here Kurotuschi's voice raised in a high pitched screech as the man ranted.

"Relax, Ichigo," Yoruichi sent him a smile of reassurance. "The longer he screeches, the more our interruption will be appreciated," she chuckled.

"Yeah," he offered her a small smile of his own, but waiting was painful.

He much preferred to settle things with his blade or fists, settling things with political manoeuvring was really not something he was comfortable, nor familiar, with. He would just have to hope that he had as many friends as everyone seemed to assure him he did on the council and that Unohana-san had managed to set the stage the best she could.

He felt his fist tighten around the flash drive with the information Kisuke had given him, feeling the plastic bite into his flesh and remind him to loosen his grip before he damaged the small device.

Finally, Yoruichi must have gotten some sort of signal for she nodded her head at him, indicating it was time. With another deep breath, he stormed up to the doors and kicked them open, instantly silencing the room as all eyes turned towards him in various degrees of shock, and in at least one case outrage.

"_**Just remember what they did to our pack, to your cub and mine**__**"**_H'tsu hissed in his ear.

It was more than enough of a prompt for him to hold onto his anger, even though he felt complete shock at some of the faces that had turned to face him and had almost lost his grip on it.

"_Well, now I know where Shinji and the others disappeared to,__"_he thought surprised as he spotted no less than three of the Vizard standing in the twin lines wearing a white haori.

"You," Kurotsuchi hissed at him in outrage.

Ichigo ignored him and stormed right passed him until he stopped in the center of the room, not even sparing a glance at his friends and keeping his gaze locked with Yamamoto's.

"Kurosaki," Yamamoto greeted him.

"Jii-san," Ichigo returned, "I wish I could say sorry for the intrusion, but I am not," he said coldly. He turned his attention towards Unohana and gave he a small bow, "Unohana-taichou, you have my thanks, the thanks of my family, my pack members, and the appreciation of those that chose to go their separate way for aiding them in our time of need."

"Your gratitude is appreciated Kurosaki-san. I am always pleased, and willing, to help those in need."

"More than anything, you have my profound thanks in giving Hajistro a chance to live. If it weren't for you and my father, the cub would never have stood a chance at hatching. For that, you have my thanks above all others. My father in particular is looking forward to another grandchild," he couldn't help but to smile wirily before tuning back up his rage and finally turning to face Kurotsuchi.

"How dare you….."

"No," Ichigo interrupted coldly with a flare of his enraged, overpowered reiatsu that sent many of the fukutaichou sweating at the force behind it, "how dare you attack my family after everything I have done for Soul Society? How dare you beat any creature to the point of almost loosing their child? How dare you order such atrocities to be commit against any creature, regardless of what or who it is?" Ichigo snarled. "I warned you I would come after you again if you attacked my family, and yet the first victim you chose after learning Hollow's could bred was one of my cubs parent's own brother!" his voice echoed slightly at the last accusation thanks to H'tsu's interference.

They hadn't actually known about Yylfordt being alive and chosen to breed, but no one needed to know that. Ichigo really didn't like lying, but technically there was no lie here and it helped their case.

"Kurosaki," Yamamoto called his attention back to the Soutaichou, "it is a serious crime to attack a Shinigami division."

"It's a greater crime to attack my family," Ichigo countered angrily, but left off there despite the other bitter words that ran though his mind to permit Yamamoto to speak at Zangetsu's prompting.

"It is also a crime for one Shinigami to attack another, or their family. It is clear to me that Kurotuschi-taichou was unaware of your family ties to these…. Hollows, as we were all unaware. It was with Central 46's orders that the surviving Arrancar be contained and studied and by breaking them out you have invaded our realm and broke our laws once more," Yamamoto said sternly.

It was time to finish step one, create empathy for those harmed.

"Does study include the atrocities such as these being committed?" Ichigo demanded, holding up the flash drive.

He honestly had no idea how the large screen behind him worked, nor where to plug the drive in. He was loathed to let Kurotuschi even touch the small yet vital piece of plastic and metal. Fortunately, with Yamamoto's permission, Toshiro was the one to take the devise and plug it in before calling the main file up.

Ichigo hadn't actually seen the images yet, so the shock and disgust as the various experimentations were conducted hit him just as hard as it hit several of the others in the room. Some remained stoic, some remained disinterested, but most had various degrees of shock and horror and many accusatory glares were once more sent Kurotuschi's way.

"I was tasked by Central 46 to learn everything I could about the Arrancar, such an order is rather open to interpretation and I was being as thorough in my investigations as could be," the scientist grunted in annoyance. "If we are suddenly so interested in how I treat my specimens, lets take a look at how the Onmitsukido do their deals as well," he sneered. "At least mine are mindless hollows."

"Arrancar are not mindless," Ichigo snapped. "When Aizen tampered with them he gave them part of a Shinigami soul. The only difference between a Vizard and an Arrancar is which side of the coin the person started on, and you clearly have no problems with us Vizard," Ichigo waved his hand at the three standing Vizard who had remained silent during the debate, although Shiniji had a shit eating grin plastered on his face that has been there since Ichigo had kicked in the doors.

"I don't care about legal action being taken against you for doing your job, Kurotsuchi, as much as seeing such action being taken would please me. If I held a grudge against every person who has wronged me, well, I probably wouldn't be letting half of you stand here," Ichigo shook his head.

"Than why are you here," Soi Fon demanded.

"To take what legal action I apparently do have the right to take, ironically enough in both Soul Society and Huecu Mundo laws," he couldn't help but to smile and shake his head a little.

"And what action might that be?" Kurotsuchi sneered. "As if any laws would be shared between beasts and ourselves."

"Las Noches was owned by Aizen, and I defeated him, thus earning the right to inherit and lay claim to everything he owned," Ichigo stated, knowing he need go no further than that.

"Even the division?" Shinji asked.

"You can keep that," Ichigo scowled. "Want I want is Las Noches, free of Shinigami interference, as a safe haven for those Arrancar who wish to live in peace."

"And give them a nest to breed in?" Soi Fon growled.

"Adjucus and Vasto Lorde have been breeding for centuries. The only food source outside of Hueco Mundo worth hunting for them would be someone of, at least, Fukutaichou level. How many Adjucus and Vasto Lorde do you see?" he questioned.

"Almost none," Jushiro helpfully answered.

Ichigo nodded his head in thanks to the white haired taichou.

"There is no reason for any of the remaining Arrancar to leave Hueco Mundo, or their offspring. If any do I will deal with them myself if need be," and now for the final offer that would hopefully result in both his victory, and rub a thousand pounds of salt into Kurotuschi's wounds. "Also, Szayel has agreed to share all of his research, past, present and future, with Urahara-san to be conveyed forward to Soul Society."

That sent a stirring through the room.

"It would also be nice if my friends actually visited every once in a while to see how I was doing," he offered a few of them a smile. "Because you know, I am starting to feel unloved after everything I went through for you guys."

That was his way of saying that they could check up on him without needing to sneak in, that he had nothing to hide from them, for he didn't, and was willing to co-operate in some manner.

"How many Arrancar are we talking about living in Las Noches?" Toshiro questioned apprehensively.

"Probably not more than a dozen or so," Ichigo answered. "Most of them left and scattered as soon as they were able, and I expect more will do the same. As noted earlier, they have no interest in anything out side of Hueco Mundo and it was Aizen that pushed them outside of it. Kurotsuchi didn't cage all of them and yet we have not heard from any of them, have we?"

His question was answered with various forms of agreement. No one had even heard about any of the Arrancar until this day.

"If I may add, Soutaichuo, it is my understanding that Grimmjow and Szayel are the only two surviving Espada. If both of them continue to live with Ichigo than we will be able to keep tabs on them. While the rest of the Arrancar are dangerous, as Ichigo pointed out, not all of them have been accounted for and we have not heard from them." Jushiro added.

"I have no doubt we could deal with most of the Arrancar should they become an issue, only the Espada were truly any threat to us, and it sounds like Ichigo here has tamed the surviving ones," Shunsui added with a smirk that almost brought a blush to Ichigo's face.

"Only the fact your family was involved pulls you out of the fire for attacking a division, Kurosaki. We can not deny you your legal right to lay claim to Las Noches," Yamamoto declared. "Nor lordship over those of Aizen's minions you wish to lay claim to. Be aware that you **will** be responsible for their future actions. I hope you know what you are doing."

"I do," Ichigo assured him.

"Kurotsuchi-taichou, you are to extract the remained of your division from Las Noches," Yamamoto ordered.

"But…." Kurotsuchi practically seethed in rage, but he wisely didn't object any further than the one word. "As you command, Soutaichou," he gritted out, shooting Ichigo a death glare.

"There will be no further debate. Meeting adjured," Yamamoto slammed his staff down once more.

Kurotsuchi stormed out of the room in a fury, Ichigo watched him go before giving a shake of his head and turning his attention to the sudden flurry of people surrounding him, all of them clearly interested on what he had been up to and how the hell had he managed to mate with a hollow, and a male one at that. It was going to be several more hours yet before he could return home to his family. Still, he felt the information about breeding should at least be passed on to Shinji and the other Vizard, just encase it turned out they could also breed in a hollow like manner.

"That went better than expected," Ichigo sighed hours later when it was finally just him, Yoruichi, Rukia and Renji.

"I still can't wrap my head around it," Renji shook his head.

"I still can't either, and Cachorro is my son."

"He's so adorable though," Rukia gushed. Her eyes hadn't left the picture Unohana had brought back with her since the petite Shinigami had gotten her hands on it. "Almost cutter than Chappy," she sighed.

"What do you mean, almost?" Ichigo demanded affronted.

"Well, Chappy will always be cute, but Cachorro will have to grow up one day, and with a father like you his chances are slim."

"Oi," Ichigo protested.

Yoruichi chuckled and shook her head while Renji let out a loud laugh.

"Some friends you guys are," he grouched, kicking a rock on their path.

He had already filled them in on everything that had happened over the last two months and, much like Ishida, Renji had mixed feeling over Szayel's survival and impregnation by Ichigo's hollow.

"We should get you home Ichigo, no doubt your growing family is getting worried that something bad happened. The last thing we need right now is your volatile mate storming his way in to 'rescue' you," Yoruichi chuckled.

"No kidding," Ichigo chuckled back. "It was good to see you two again," he smiled at his two oldest Shinigami friends.

"It would be too much to ask that you stay out of trouble, so I won't bother," Rukia smiled softly at him.

"It was just amusing to see Kurotsuchi-taichou's hakama in a knot," Renji chuckled.

With a final fair well, Ichigo followed Yoruichi to the nearest gate and through it to home. Cachorro was the first to greet him, his son rushing towards him in a stumbling run and meowing for attention. With a soft smile Ichigo scooped him up and finished entering the room.

"No blood, or did you shower before coming home?" Grimmjow questioned.

"Believe it or not, everything fell into place as we planned," Ichigo answered, closing the distance between himself the lounging former panther. "Las Noches is now technically mine, Kurotsuchi should be removing his troops and equipment even now."

"Things tend to happen the way you plan **when** you plan your strategy in advance," Szayel pointed out without bothering to look up from the journal he was currently writing away in before a scowl crossed his face. "That Shinigami trash better not take or destroy any of my equipment in his withdrawal. No doubt he will also leave recording and scanning devises all over the place. It is going to take months finding and getting rid of it all," Szayel lamented.

"It is not like we have anything to hide. Stop stressing about replaceable equipment Szayel and worry about what is really important," Ichigo lectured.

"And what would that be?"

"Hijastro," Ichigo answered firmly, "your first successful cub."

The scowl was instantly gone and the Journal ignored as Szayel turned his attention towards the egg he was curled protectively around at Ichigo's reminder. Looking over at the other couple Ichigo was surprised to realize they had taken the time he was away to set up another nest in the far corner for the other mated pair. He was a little surprised that they were bedding down in here.

"It's for safety's sake," Grimmjow grunted when he noticed where Ichigo's attention had wandered to. "Yylfordt is pack and family, so it's easier for both of our instincts to accept their presence."

"Right, I remember you saying your own pack was safe around cubs and would help raise any," Ichigo nodded.

Tesra seemed to be sleeping at the moment, no doubt completely exhausted after the long day and drained of Reiatsu. It was probably the first time the Beta had gotten any real slumber since his mating now that they were actually safe without any fear of Kurotsuchi. Yylfordt was curled up around him, listening to the conversation and gently running a hand down his Beta's side is soft strokes. Ichigo sighed when he realized both were still as naked as when Orihime had rescued them and vowed to fix the problem. He had gotten use to it but it was the last thing Karin or Yuzu needed to walk in on.

"I know you guys probably want to return to Huecu Mundo, but it is a lot safer here in the Living Realm. I would like to finish the last few months of school off, at which point I will get a good break we can use to asses Las Noches, and it would give time for **all** of the cubs to safely hatch and grow a bit. Any objections?" he questioned his pack.

Those awake had no objections, or at least not enough of one to confront him about his decision. The Living Realm was much safer, and the pack was full of powerful Arrancar capable of holding off pretty much anything in this world until the rest could respond.

Ichigo turned his attention back to his son, who was now slumbering in his lap. Cachorro may not look humanoid in pretty much any way, but no one could deny just how adorable he was. He hoped Hijastro would be equally as adorable.

* * *

><p>As much as I would love to give Kurotsuchi a violent, miserable end, that, unfortunately, just isn't the way Soul Society works. sigh. Everything in the arguments were true. I could totally see the assholes in Central 46 condoning his studies of the threat and it would be a very true and honest concern of the Shinigami that Arrancar can breed; giving their strength and the average Shinigami's patheticness. I mean come on, when Orihime-chan can knock them out with a slap chop to the neck you know the average Shinigami is truly pathetic (season two when they infiltrate if you are trying to recall when it happened. She knocked two of them out so she and Ishida could steal their uniforms).

Tesra's name is spelt correctly, there is a big thing with r's and l's that has to do with the language translation. I once looked through the English version of Unmasked and had to roll my eyes so damn hard because half of the names were spelt incorrectly, despite having been written out by Tite Kubo… Needles to say I found the book a complete waste of money when half of the information was omitted, or even wrong. Even the first data book, which I foolishly did buy, had so many errors in it I cried brokenly.

Anyhow, /love and thank you all for the reviews. Now, to attempt to get some sleep, it's been five days since I've gotten some.

Next Chapter: Hijastro finally hatches.

EDIT: In my complete exhaustion (making a baby is hard work) I forgot to add that Mo Minxe wrote a little one shot fanfiction of well, this fanfiction. She did a pretty darn good job too I would say so go check it out. fanfiction. net/s/8004410/1/ Fanfiction_of_The_Real_King


	34. Hijastro

Hijastro

"I am coming in," Karin announced as she entered the den, pausing briefly at the door for a moment to give the inhabitants time to scan her with their bloody powerful reiatsu before entering the room to the pleased meows of Cachorro.

Isshin was already here, currently checking over Szayel's injuries, which were starting to heal nicely now that he was eating well and his reiatsu was restoring itself. Orihime had agreed to help, but she had also wasted a lot of her own reiatsu healing Kurotuschi's victims so the only thing she had managed to accomplish so far was to mend the worst injury; his shattered ankle. The rest of his bones were in various states of repair and until Isshin declared otherwise, Szayel was still sentenced to remain in bed.

That didn't seem to bother the Arrancar any. He didn't seem interesting in leaving his nest with its egg anyway and had even started to ignore his journals a little. It took both Isshin and Ichigo to pry him from his nest to at least shower, a situation Ichigo seemed familiar with and when questioned would mutter something about Grimmjow. It also took two of them because Szayel could not walk without assistance.

Karin supposed she didn't blame him for not wanting to leave the nest. If the calendar was right Hijastro should be hatching soon and she sure as hell wouldn't want to miss her own child hatching, not that she would ever lay an egg, but the sentiment was the same.

"Good Afternoon, Karin-san," Tesra greeted her warmly, curled up around his own egg.

Karin made her way over towards the latest Beta and his nest.

"Did the others ditch you here again with nerd boy over there,"

"I heard that," Szayel shot her a glare over Isshin's shoulder, which she ignored as she kept on talking.

"so they could get fresh air and leave you two stuffed up in here again?" she questioned. "And no commentary from the nursemaid," Karin shot a smirk over at Szayel.

Szayel grunted something and her father shook his head in exasperation. Cachorro let out a loud mew to remind her that he still, heaven forbid, hadn't been petted yet! Reaching down absently, she ruffled his head and scratched his ears.

"Grimmjow and Yylfordt are hunting, Urahara-san and his fraccion are setting up the warehouse for our eventual use and I believe Kurosaki-san is at school."

"Hmm, yeah he's got whichever sports club he's sighed up with this week to attend," she mused.

She was oddly comfortable around Tesra, even more so than Szayel. She felt safe around them both, but Szayel was a little intimidating with his vast wealth of knowledge that he was always so eager to display. Tesra just had a very docile nature to him. She wasn't sure what to feel for Yylfordt, he was just as vain as his younger brother, but he was also much more aggressive, just like Grimmjow. She hadn't known him long enough to get a good read on how much of that danger was real and how much was simple posturing.

Like Grimmjow though, Yylfordt obviously detested Yuzu, but oddly enough Tesra seemed to like her sister. Szayel was simply indifferent towards her twin, not that Yuzu came by a lot but it was rare that Grimmjow would permit Cachorro out of the den so if Yuzu wanted to visit her nephew she had no choice but to brave the den full of wolves.

"Everything is healing nicely," her father announced, standing up and stretching as he finished his examination. "Cachorro-kun, ready for your check up," her father turned a large, goofy smile towards the cub currently rubbing against her leg.

Before her nephew could make any attempt at escaping, she picked him up and laughed as he squirmed desperately in her grasp, meowing his displeasure.

"So now you don't want to be picked up?" she taunted him.

Cachorro let out another mew as Karin carried him over to Grimmjow and Ichigo's nest, which was far larger than the other two, her father coming over to meet them. She set Cachorro down and laughed as he pouted at them while Isshin began his examination, one he read aloud this time so the information could be recorded in Cachorro's Scientific Journal.

Karin grabbed the various equipment her father requested, like the weigh scale and needles to gather some blood work. She was amused at how easily Cachorro handled the needles, while his hollow parent seemed down right terrified of them, but absolutely hated and feared the weigh scale. Another oddity was that Cachorro loved water, absolutely adored it in fact.

When Yuzu had brought in a small, plastic pool that had once belonged to them when they were younger and filled it with water, Cachorro had a field day. Although Kairn had to admit the best part was watching the cub shake himself dry all over his parents while they coddled in the nest, taking them completely by surprise and soaking them both.

The oddest thing she had seen to date though was actually getting to witness Tesra lay his egg, as she happened to be in the room at the time. It looked really uncomfortable and highly painful, but the one thing that had truly stuck with her was Yylfordt's behaviour during the event.

Every ounce of aggressing was simply gone; replaced completely by concern and worry as he rubbed his Beta's lower back in an effort to ease the discomfort and murmured soft words of encouragement as the hole opened in Tesra's stomach and the egg emerged. The words of encouragement had changed to praise as Tesra panted with the exertion before both of them curled up around the egg with identical shocked looks of wonderment.

It was a scene Karin felt she would remember for a very long time, and one she was actually honoured to be privy to. The number of people who had witnessed such an event were less than a dozen, and she was one of those dozen.

Cachorro broke her out of her musing as the cub let out another loud meow of displeasure, squirming in her father's grasp as he tried to escape any further examination. She supposed all grandchildren suffered through similar fates of being the unwanted object of their grandparents attention, but in this case she had to admit that her father's interest in Cachorro was warranted.

"The less you struggle the faster it will go," she admonished him.

Cachorro turned pathetic blue and gold tinted eyes her way, looking down right miserable as only a kitten could.

"Don't give me that innocent look. If Goatface doesn't examine you, some one else just well, like Urahara-san," she pointed out.

Cachorro's face fell and he stilled in Isshin's grasp, letting the eldest Kurosaki continue with his examination with a considerable amount less fidgeting. Cachorro didn't like Kisuke, in fact most of the Arrancar were leery of him, especially Tesra and Yylfordt. Szayel and Kisuke at least shared a passion, but with one banged up and focused on his upcoming cub and the other busy trying to get the abandoned warehouse liveable in, they really hadn't had a lot of time to collaborate yet.

"Why do his eyes do that?" she questioned curiously, turning her gaze over to Szayel. "The first time I met him they were golden too, but most of the time they are blue."

"A reaction caused by stress, initiating his instincts," Szayel answered offhandedly as he continued to record the observations Isshin was calling out. "Your brother's eyes do the same thing when he gets angry or becomes lost in his mating hormones."

"Didn't need to know the last part, nor do I _want_ to know how you know that," she scowled.

Szayel chuckled while Isshin shot him a glare for brining such things up in front of his delicate darling daughter. Szayel just shrugged at the glare and turned his attention back to his journal.

Karin appreciated the Arrancar in that they didn't think she was some sort of poor little girl that needed protecting. Her father was rather overprotective and it got rather aggravating. She wasn't some delicate flower that needed to be protected from the real world. She could take care of herself.

"I'm back," Ichigo announced as he waltz into the room.

Instantly forgetting that he was suppose to be behaving to make the torment end sooner, Cachorro squirmed out of his Grandfather's arms and raced towards Ichigo, crying desperately for attention, or perhaps a rescue, while Isshin scrambled comically after his escaping Grandchild.

"You're home early," Karin commented, completely unphased by the comical scene suddenly unfolding before her.

Ichigo defended his son from their father and insisted Cachorro was fine and didn't need so much bloody attention while Isshin insisted that the cub, still so young and of no genetic make up anyone was familiar with, needed regular check ups so they could maintain a steady record of 'what was normal' in case something DID come up and so they would have a record for the other two impending offspring. All of this was argued at the top of their lungs and quickly divulged into a brawl, which Cachorro extracted himself from and simply trotted up to Szayel instead, seeming rather pleased with himself.

Tesra watched the interacting father/son bonding with slightly wide eyes and a growing hint of nervousness, curling more tightly up around his own egg in obvious concern for its safety while the two vigorously wrestled.

"Cachorro," Szayel complained as the cub nosed his way under Szayel's arm, preventing any further writing and no doubt mangling the kanji Szayel had been in the middle of writing.

Cachorro completely ignored the exasperated Arrancar and simple nosed at his chest, pawing the cloth between him and the meal he clearly wanted access to. Szayel was quick to abandon the pen and grasp those paws before the claws could tear his yukuta or skin. He quickly adjusted his clothing accordingly to permit the cub to feed while still covering anything Karin didn't need to see.

While all of the Arrancar were completely comfortably hanging about the den au natural, Ichigo absolutely refused to permit it when his sisters had a tendency to stop by. Thus, they were all provided with a simple yukuta for now that could be 'closed up' to hide anything the teen didn't want his sisters seeing. Karin wasn't quite at that age where ogling men with well toned bodies was of much interest so she was grateful for the clothing.

Karin walked past her brawling family members, shaking her head in exasperation and wincing as Isshin's upper half collided painfully with the floor as her brother suplexed their father, to stand by Tesra, who was looking rather nervous as the two continued to brawl.

She had hoped that Isshin's sudden reversal into a 'mature adult' would have lasted longer, but it would seem that they were cursed to forever endure the antics of a mentally unstable father; no number of positive sanity tests would get her to believe her father was, in any way, sane.

"Relax, this is actually normal for them and I am surprised it took Goatface so long to revert to his bad habits," Karin assured him with a hint of exasperation.

She had to hold back another wince as Isshin managed to get a hold of Ichigo and head planted his son into the floor. Ichigo rose up from that move like a creature from hell and kneed their father rather hard in the chest, which only resulted in his leg being captured.

"Must they fight in the den?" Tesra questioned apprehensively.

"Apparently," she sighed.

She could tell Tesra was getting more nervous, especially when one throw landed Isshin rather close to the nest. Even Szayel was getting exasperated and starting to look a little concerned as the two continued their wrestling match. Cachorro simply finished eating and then sat down on his haunches to watch the two 'men' brawl curiously.

"Alright you two," Karin called out, ready to break up the brawl and spare the two expecting Arrancar an aneurism, but was spared any further words by the sound of a loud crack.

Everyone froze, which in the case of Ichigo and Isshin left them in a rather humorous pose. All eyes darted towards Szayel, who was no longer staring at the fighting family but rather and the rocking egg beside him.

(POV)

After a rather long day at school, which included a baseball match followed by a gang fight on the way home (seriously you would think by now the idiots would get it through their thick skulls already that they didn't stand a chance against him. How many hospital trips were they going to have to take before they got it?) the last thing Ichigo wanted or needed was to get into a stupid brawl with his father.

Granted, the brawl let him burn of some steam, which he suspected his father had actually hoped to achieve. He was somewhat grateful, but his original plan of blowing off said steam had been much better and had included; his mate, Zangestsu, Pantera, and another round, or two, in the hot springs. A far more enjoyable steam lifting than brawling with his father.

"Alright you two," Karin called out, clearly ready to break their fight up, when the sound of a loud crack echoed through out the room.

Instantly everything froze. Although no one other than himself could hear it, H'tsu was the first to break the sudden, stunned silence.

"_**Quickly, let me out,**__**"**_his hollow demanded eagerly. _**"**__**I want to watch personally,**__**"**_silence for a moment, "_**please**_," H'tsu added at the end, his voice sounding like he had chocked on something.

Ichigo was honestly shocked at the actual attempt to be polite, but had to admit that H'tsu deserved to see his cub hatching.

"_Behave_," Ichigo warned him sternly.

He summoned both parts of his soul, mainly because he was too distracted himself by the rocking egg to keep tabs on H'tsu. Besides, Zangestu was also a part of his soul and there was no reason to exclude the Zanpakuto from watching Hijastro's hatching.

(POV)

It was so hard, so very hard to hold still and still remember to breath. For once in his life it was almost impossible not to intervene when he was honestly more use to observing and recording, but this was different. This was his cub, his first cub, slowly emerging from its protective shell.

Szayel had felt a large number of emotions in his life, from terror to insatiable curiosity, but never before had he felt such a strong pull of anticipation and glee as that egg rocked and cracks continued to appear.

"Come on little one," he whispered softly in encouragement, forcing himself to stay still and not move to help like he so desperately wanted to.

It took all of his willpower to sit still and not pace or fidget. His body desperately wanted to move and he suddenly felt a grudging increase of respect for Grimmjow for managing to sit still and not interfere during his son's hatching. Patience was never one of Grimmjow's higher stats, although Szayel had to confess the former Sexta had more of it than deadbeats, no pun intended, like Yammy had had.

Finally, a white paw broke through one area of the shell, wiggling a bit before a second joined it. The egg rolled until the paws could touch the floor and was now laying on its 'side.' Two more white paws broke through at the 'front' of the egg, followed by two, bony spears erupting from the 'top.'

With all four paws firm on the floor, the bony spikes continued to tear up the 'top' of the shell until it collapsed. Once more the egg rolled, this time onto it's 'side' and Hijastro burst from the larger hole, skidding on the slick floor and staring all around at the gather group with bright, golden eyes.

"**Pink! Must be a girl,****"**H'tsu scowled in detest.

Szayel was quick to gather the cub up, the best his wounded body would permit, and bring it closer for further examination, lifting up the lashing white tail to confirm H'tsu's statement and then needing to quickly duck as, what at first appeared to be a pink shell covering her back flared out to reveal that they were, in fact, wings with a protective outer shell, just like most insects. The bony intrusions turned out to be a small pair of horns adorning her head, no doubt a legacy from H'tsu.

Cachorro meowed in interest, moving closer to the new cub, sniffing intently. Hijastro stared back and squirmed in Szayel's grip to better study the other cub. The adults watched carefully as black, kitten like nose touched against light pink, kitten like nose.

Both cubs let out a meow of greeting before Cachorro stumbled over to his father, letting out loud meows of delight telling him all about the friend he had just found. Hijastro turned towards her own parent, nestling up to feed hungrily. Hatching was a lot of work and she needed to regain her strength quickly if she wanted to play with her new found friend.

Ichigo let out a proud smirk as he gathered his cub up and vigorously scratched him behind the ear. Szayel never noticed, hell he was hardly even aware of H'tsu being in the room. All of his attention was on his daughter, now feeding softly from him.

Here she was, finally, his first cub after four failures. She was smaller than Cachorro, but not by too much. She appeared primarily feline like, covered in soft, downy white fur. Her light pink wings, designed like those of a ladybug, were mantled across her back, almost giving the appearance of a partial turtle shell. The small horns on her forehead were barely an inch long and swept backwards.

"Why's it so damn quiet in here?" Grimmjow demanded, breaking the sudden 'aww' moment as the last two members of the pack returned from their hunting, each with a carcase in tow.

"My darling granddaughter has finally arrived," Isshin answered.

Tears were pooling in the edge of his eyes before turning his attention towards Karin with the obvious intent to cry hysterical on her shoulder. Karin put any such further antics by her father to rest before they could start with a simple uppercut to his chin that sent him to the ground, eyes swirling.

"Hijastro just hatched," Ichigo answered, turning a smile towards his mate.

"Really, let's see," Grimmjow dropped his kill over in a corner and waltzed up to get a look at the new cub, but wasn't so distracted not to spare his son a good scratching behind the ears as he took his place beside Ichigo.

Hijastro finished eating and turned to look at the new comers apprehensively, testing their reiatsu with her own slowly budding reiatsu. She moved closer to Szayel's side as she studied them wearily. Grimmjow she seemed to accept quickly enough, he tasted like Cachorro (her new friend) who also tasted like one of her own family so her instincts quickly deduced him as family. Gaze shifting to Yylfordt she felt the similarity to her 'mother,' also family. Family confirmed, Hijastro relaxed a little and turned her golden gaze up to where Cachorro was being held.

"Not so fast, young one," Szayel caught his daughter up with his good arm before she could escape. "Let's look you over first. Isshin, the scales and such,"

"Of course," Isshin smiled, seemingly recovered from Karin's earlier punishment, as he retrieved most of his equipment. "I can record the data if you would like to administer the tests."

"Please," Szayel handed over the book that, until now, only contained Hijastro's egg descriptions and laying date.

Ichigo and Grimmjow retreated to their own nest with Cachorro to give them some space while Zangetsu and H'tsu returned to Ichigo's soul. Karin, on the other hand, remained by their side to help with the equipment while Szayel handled his squirming daughter, who was clearly far more interested in getting to know Cachorro better than she was in appeasing Szayel's interests.

"She's definitely healthy," Yylfordt chuckled.

"Indeed," Szayel agreed.

"I got the basic descriptions down. Weight?" Isshin requested.

"I see she loves the scale as much as Cachorro does," Ichigo chuckled as Hijastro tried everything in her little body's ability to avoid the slippery thing, including batting Szayel with her wings as they flutter wildly and desperately to escape.

"1.6," Szayel finally announced as the combined efforts of Karin and himself finally got Hijastro to sit still on the scale long enough to catch a weight.

Other than the scale, Hijastro went through the rest of her examination with a pout, even the needles didn't seem to phase her in the least, although both Grimmjow and Yylfordt shivered at the mere sight of them, the latter far more than the former.

With her log up to date, Szayel finally, reluctantly let his daughter go and watched apprehensively as she tumbled her way over to Cachorro, who had also been released by his own parents.

Despite the tumble run they made towards each other, both cubs slowed down and once more sniffed each other carefully. Pack identity confirmed, Cachorro and Hijastro were quick to begin a game of tumble, both of them letting out loud meows and other such sounds of pleasure.

"My grandchildren," Isshin sniffed. "Oh Masaki-chan, you would be so pleased," he wailed.

"At least there isn't a poster here for him to wail on," Ichigo groaned.

"You know, this makes it difficult to decide which cub to cheer on," Yylfordt chuckled as the two continued to tumble. "Cachorro since he's my original Alpha's cub, or Hijastro because she is family."

"Speak for yourself, both of them are technically mine," Ichigo pointed out dryly.

"You might as well eat while they are distracted Szayel," Grimmjow pointed out, indicating the kill he had dragged back.

"Time to head out and run this blood work," Isshin suddenly announced, once more appearing completely sober. "Karin, can you grab the rest of the equipment and help your darling father out?"

Karin rolled her eyes, but did gather the rest of the equipment so it could be sterilized. Her father didn't like her or Yuzu hanging around when the Arrancar ate. She honestly did find it a bit disturbing and took the excuse to leave.

"Yeah yeah," she still grouched. "Congratulations, Szayel," she offered him a smile.

"Thank you," he responded, and meant it.

Grimmjow was right. He should take a moment to eat before both cubs decided they were hungry again. He hoped that they wouldn't fight over feeding rights too much and instinctively rubbed his chest at the thought of claws and fangs batting for dominance while Ichigo was kind enough to drag the kill over for him (he was still on forced bed rest and his broken leg was still not healed). Cachorro was developing a rigorous appetite as he grew and he couldn't help but to shudder at the thought of feeding _three_ of them once the last cub hatched.

Fortunately, an hour later Cachorro and Hijastro didn't seem to be too concerned over feeding order. Both of them had played together like any litter of cubs the entire time and any concern he might have had about Cachorro's larger frame harming his daughter or his daughters horns gouging Cachorro was alleviated. Hijastro fed first while Cachorro tumbled over to his parents, letting them both know just how much fun he'd had with a series of loud, excited meows. When Hajistro was done Cachorro trotted over to take his turn at feeding while Hijastro took the time to explore the den, finally going over to meet her uncle and his mate.

"Well, I need to go get dinner," Ichigo stretched as he forced his way to his feet. "H'tsu reluctantly admits you did a good job, even if he had been hoping for a son," Ichigo shook his head in exasperation.

Szayel simply gave a nod of his head in acknowledgement of the seldom given praise from his Alpha. If he never saw H'tsu again, it would be too soon. There was one good thing he could reluctantly admit about the bastard, and that was that he bred good cubs. All of the pain, humiliation and torture he had endured at his Alpha's hands suddenly meant nothing to him as he gazed upon his daughter, who was busy playing with a lock of Yylfordt's hair much to Tesra's amusement. It was worth every minute of it to finally gaze upon his offspring.

"Hay Szayel?" Yylfordt suddenly spoke up.

"Hmm?"

"Did either one of us ever have kids in our mortal lives?"

"You did, I never had the time," he admitted, hoping his brother would leave it at that.

He really didn't want to get into that whole mess. It was painful enough when he remembered it. Everything that occurred back than had eventually lead to his rather painful and humiliating death; and thus hollowfication.

Fortunately for him, Cachorro had finished feeding and ran over to Hijastro, ploughing into her from behind and sending them both tumbling right into Yylfordt. That led to a tumble match between the three, one his older brother was quick to divert away from the nest for his own eggs safety.

Szayel took the time to doze and get as much rest as he could. With the way those two were already going at it they would no doubt be starving in no time. Best to get some rest while he could.

* * *

><p>Wow, if anyone is up to date with the Manga than yeah, Kurotsuchi would definitely get away with torturing a few Arrancar…..<p>

This is the last pre written chapter I have and energy is pretty sporadic, so I have no idea when this will be updated again. Fortunately, this seems like a good pause chapter anyway. Thank you all so much for the reviews. Love ya all /snoooooooooooooooz


	35. A New Home and Old Dangers

A New Home and Old Dangers

"Good morning, Kurosaki-kun!" Kisuke called loudly as he burst into the room with far too much energy.

His exuberant entrance was met with various reactions. Ichigo groaned and shot a glare at the man, Cachorro and Hijastro hissed, Tesra woke with a start and flinched while Yylfordt glared at the intruder with his hackles up and one step away from attacking the intruder into the den. Szayel groaned and rolled over with the intent to attempt to get more rest. Grimmjow, who was the only one awake when Kisuke had burst into the room, rolled his eyes and took another sip of his coffee as he was the parent currently on 'guard duty.'

"Urahara-san, do you have any idea what time it is?" Ichigo demanded in a groan.

His groan was echoed by Szayel, although for an entirely different reason. Now that both cubs were wide awake both were hungry and clamouring to be fed. The two cubs had at least perfected feeding at the same time, Cachorro going high while Hijastro went low.

"I believe it is four thirty in the morning," Kisuke answered cheerfully. "A perfect time to start packing everything up and we can be at your new home before the city starts to stir. Wouldn't want any incidents now would we?" Kisuke questioned innocently hiding his face behind his fan.

"There is about to be an incident here," Yylfordt growled.

"The warehouse is ready?" Ichigo questioned, suddenly very much awake.

"Indeed. Well, rise and shine freeloaders. Let's get you all out of my hair," Kisuke continued cheerfully.

It didn't take long to gather up what little they had; most of it was Ichigo's school work and Szayel journals. As pissed as everyone was at Kisuke for waking them all up so damn early when they could have just been permitted to sleep and move the next morning, it was a bit of a relief to move out. The place was cramped with so many of them living in the small shop and neither Tesra nor Yylfordt trusted the shopkeeper.

The streets were deserted as they walked down them, heading towards the old warehouse that had once belonged to the Vizard. It had rained earlier so the lights reflected off of the wet pavement.

Cachorro and Hijastro looked around curiously, the first being carried by Grimmjow while Ichigo carried the second. Tesra looked ready to bolt at the faintest sound, holding onto his egg tightly while Yylfordt looked ready to destroy the first thing that moved unexpectedly. Szayel stumbled after them, looking like death warmed over and dragging his feet. He didn't even have the energy to carry his precious journals, Ichigo had them slung over his shoulder.

"You doing alright?" the teen asked concerned as he fell back a bit.

"Fine," Szayel mumbled, before nearly tripping over his own feet and would have fallen if Ichigo hadn't caught him, Hijastro moving from his arms to perch on his shoulder.

"Still not getting much sleep eh?" Ichigo questioned.

"No," he admitted. "The cubs are eating more than I expected as well. Even with the supplements Grimmjow bring back and eating portions of Tesra's kills he generously donates… I am not so sure I will be able to handle three of them," Szayel admitted softly after a minute.

Ichigo frowned, understanding just how difficult it had to have been for the former Espada to admit to such a thing.

"Well, we got some time yet. Maybe we will finally come up with something the brats will eat."

"Maybe," Szayel agreed, but he didn't sound hopeful.

It was a testament as to just how exhausted Szayel was when the Arrancar continued to lean on him in support, and a further testament as to just how run down he appeared that Grimmjow didn't even protest the contact, simply falling back and walking beside Ichigo's free side so Cachorro would quit softly complaining about wanting to be closer to Sire and Sister.

It was a decent distance to the warehouse, and by the time they arrived Yylfordt was carrying his niece while Ichigo supported Szayel. Even Tesra looked worn out, having not yet recovered from his own laying and was exhausted from carrying the heavy egg such a distance. He was also leaning against his own Alpha.

"Here we are," Kisuke announced happily as they finally reached the warehouse.

Ichigo had to admit it was already looking better than he remembered, with a fresh coat of paint and everything. Instead of walking into a busted up interior that poorly resembled the old Greek coliseum, they entered a narrow hallway. The lights came on as they walked down the hall and turning off behind them.

"Here is the kitchen, and on this side a storeroom for your, ah, more interesting meat," Kisuke explained.

The kitchen was a nice size and the store room had enough room for several kills to be kept safe and sound. The continued on to a rather large bathroom, complete with a small pool for the cubs to play in; already stocked with several toys, and a hot tub for the adults. It was the main room that they were led to next that took everyone's breaths away and even caused the very exhausted Szayel to make a noise of appreciation.

"And here we have the main den," Kisuke annoyed happily. "The other four doors lead to private suites so you can enjoy your mates company without an audience and outside of little eyes sights, but as you can see we set up a few nests and a couple of couches here for more easy entertainment."

There were indeed a few nests of pillows and blankets with a couple of couches and chairs surrounding a coffee table, but it was what took up the rest of the very large room that had everyone's attention, especially the cubs.

With identical squeals of delight, Cachorro and Hijastro squirmed out of the arms holding them and bolted for what had to be either the worlds largest Jungle Gym crossed with scratching posts or the worlds largest Cat House built to accommodate even a full grown tiger; depending on what way you wanted to look at it.

The floor was covered in thick mats so that if the cubs did somehow fall they would land softly, although in all honestly Ichigo was no more worried about the cubs falling then he was any other kitten climbing such an assembly. The only concern he had was Tesra and Yylofdt's impending cub. Since they were both ungulates it was a good bet their cub would have hooves and not claws like Cachorro and Hijastro. Most of the lower levels had ramps and bridges with railings though so at least their cub would be able to play somewhat; until Cachorro and Hijastro climbed to the higher levels and out of reach.

As impressive as it was, Ichigo turned his attention to getting Szayel into the largest nest not far from the giant jungle gym, looking down in concern as his burden all but collapsed in a heap amongst the pillows, breathing heavily and clearly exhausted.

Tesra and Yylfordt disappeared into one of the side rooms, claiming one of the dens for themselves. Grimmjow moved over to the jungle gym, the cubs squealing in delight as they suddenly found themselves being hunted by the former Espada.

Ichigo couldn't help but to smile and had to resist joining his mate and cubs as he made sure the last member of their pack was settled down comfortably. Szayel was barely settled into the nest before he was asleep once more, his entire posture showing just how exhausted he was. Black marks were even starting to form under his eyes.

Ichigo sighed and moved away to let the exhausted Arrancar get what sleep he could, moving over to where Kisuke was still standing by the door and the bags they had dropped at the entrance.

"I, thank you, this is wonderful," Ichigo thanked him honestly. "Far better than we could have expected."

"Your welcome," Kisuke smiled at him. "I just wish we could have found some way by now to help your friend out there, but so far neither cub has accepted any of the substitutes we have tried," Kisuke sighed.

"Hmm," Ichigo agreed sadly, gaze once more going to the slumbering Arrancar, a gaze Kisuke followed.

"There is another room set up as a small clinic and a computer room for him, when he wakes up," Kisuke added.

"Thank you, I'll let him know if he gets more than four seconds to himself."

"Well, enjoy your new home," Kisuke smiled gaily at him before wandering off.

A squeal of delight from Cachorro pulled his attention back to the cubs and the Arrancar playing on the large jungle gym. With a wide smirk, he joined them, easily navigating the carpet covered wooden beams until he was above the oblivious trio.

With a smirk of anticipation, he leaped down to land on his mate's back, letting Cachorro and Hijastro escape with squeals of delight into one of the little houses while Grimmjow cursed and struggled under him before finally shoving him off to land on a lower tier.

The game continued for about an hour, everyone changing sides as the mood fit until the cubs finally ran out of energy and curled up to sleep in one of the larger 'houses,' Cachorro nestled against Grimmjow while Hijastro nestled against Ichigo, who used his body to block the entrance of the little house.

"It's hard to believe how much energy they have sometimes," Ichigo commented, watching amused as both cub twitched in their slumber.

"Hmm," Grimmjow agreed sleepily.

He had been the last one on 'guard duty' so he was fairly tired himself. It didn't take long for both of them to also slip into slumber, joining the cubs and everyone else in dream land.

Finally, after days upon days of a guard always being active, the defences were down. Golden eyes opened and a delighted grin touched black lips shortly before a tongue rolled over them in hungry anticipation.

(POV)

Sleep was such a precious thing, so precious that the others often silently exempted him from taking a turn at guard duty. It was relaxing to finally get some rest in such a large nest with the others far enough away that he could just feel the tingle of their reiatsu and not need to listen, or watch, as the other two couples took pleasure in each others company, a pleasure he himself had never had the chance to enjoy.

It bit at him sometimes, but it was helpfully mitigated by Ichigo's concerned attentions. While not technically his Mated Alpha, the Hybrid was still his pack Alpha, and it was a relief to know he had that support, a support that extended to his cub.

Hijastro was stunning and he just knew she was going to be absolutely beautiful when she grew up. He would go through all of the pain and humiliation again if need be just to have the chance to meet her had he known what the end was going to bring. More so, he knew the pack would watch out for her, even if he was unable to right now.

The walk here had exhausted him deeply and it was just a sign as to how burnt out the cubs were making him that he hadn't even protested nor felt weak and pathetic needing to lean against Ichigo to get here. Once determining both cubs were safe he had quickly drifted off to sleep, a sleep that was suddenly and nearly violently interrupted two hours later.

His eyes darted open in shock as a heavy body suddenly pinned his, a hand wrapping around his mouth to prevent any attempts at a cry for help. He struggled weakly against his assailant for only a moment before his mind was able to process who had him pinned down, at which point the froze completely.

"**Hello Pretty Little Pet,****"**H'tsu purred quietly at him so his voice wouldn't carry and possibly alert the others.

His first fear was for the cubs, and he quickly started to scan for them, his body relaxing just slightly as he discovered them both curled up and sleeping with the Alpha Pair. He was more worried about his own than Cachorro, for he knew H'tsu was beyond pleased with his King's cub but had shown only distain for his own the one time he had seen her.

"**Do you know how annoying and difficult it is to stand by and watch King fuck his little toy and never be permitted to play myself?****"**H'tsu questioned in a way that Szayel knew he wasn't expecting an answer. **"****And than to top it off, he lets that other pair come in and go at it, all the while I get nothing and am even denied the right to play with my own toy, fairly cornered and claimed,****"** H'tsu snorted softly in agitation.

The clamp around his mouth had loosened just enough to permit him to speak if he desired, but he honestly didn't desire to say anything that might set the violent hollow off so he wisely kept his mouth shut while he waited in a terrified trance to see what H'tsu wanted with him.

Hijastro had hatched, their mating essentially ended. If he'd been at even half strength he would have attempted to toss the creature off of him and alert the den to the danger, but he wasn't. He was as helpless as a new born babe pinned underneath this creature. In this position it would be child's play for H'tsu to snap his neck before he could even finish setting off an alarm, let alone anyone responding to it, and both of them knew it. He was completely trapped.

"_What do you want?__"_he questioned silently, letting his eyes speak the question he didn't dare voice aloud.

"**What I want is my own toy, Pretty Little Pet, and I know just the way to get it,****"**H'tsu smirked evilly, closing the distance between them so his black lips were even with Szayel's ear. **"****Either you obediently offer me your tail whenever I ask for it, or I will simply kill off the brat and put you back into prime and mate you again, hopefully this time resulting in a male instead of some worthless female.****"**H'tsu sneered.

Szayel's entire body went ridged at the threat. How could any creature threaten to kill his own offspring? Despite himself his eyes darted to where Hijastro was, curled up and sleeping peacefully with the Alpha pair.

"**Granted, I am beginning to wonder if you are worth breeding at all. Two miscarriages and than a worthless female,****"**H'tsu snorted.

His fear was briefly replaced by anger and pain, but it didn't last long as H'tsu continued speaking.

"**Of course you probably think Ichigo would be able to protect her, but let****'****s face it. Snapping her little neck would take nothing and once I mate you again King would have no choice but to let me out to fuck ya least it leave the den and his own offspring in danger,****"**H'tsu pointed out darkly**. ****"****Or even banish ya for the safety of the den,****"** H'tsu added with a wide smirk.

Szayel felt his entire body shiver and his muscles strained as he tried to push his assailant off, but he might as well have been trying to move a mountain. The hand clamped around his mouth again before he could let out any noise that might alert the others to his distress.

"**I could suffocate her easily, after all so many infants die for no known reason. No one would even suspect,****"**H'tsu continued mockingly.

Tears pooled at the corner of his eyes as images of Hijastro's dead body flashed before his eyes; some with nothing more than a floppy neck, others with her pristine, beautiful white fur dyed bright red with blood and her pink wings torn asunder.

His body went limp under H'tsu's in silent surrender, but the tears continued to trickle down the side of his face.

"**I knew you would see it my way,****"**H'tsu taunted as he finally removed his hand from Szayel's mouth.

How could this happen? How could any Sire even _think_ of killing his own offspring just to make a point? Sure there were times when the Sire might kill the cub, like if there was a defect of some sort, but Hijastro was perfect and stunningly beautiful. A true prize for a cub.

He didn't resist as H'tsu grabbed his shoulders and turned him onto his chest before shoving three fingers into his mouth. He silently sucked them and lavished them with saliva before they were removed.

He couldn't stop the soft whimper of pain from escaping as he was harshly prepared, and then quickly penetrated after less than a minute. It hurt, but at least nothing tore. One hand had clamped around his mouth again, insuring that there would be no accidental cries of pain to alert the others to what was going on.

He had no plans on alerting anyone anyhow. He did not want his daughter to see this, to witness the brutality of her own Sire. The only sound in the large room was H'tsu's soft pants of pleasure in his ear and the very soft sound of their flesh meeting. He managed to keep most of the whimpers of pain at bay, firmly clamped down with fear for his offspring.

Finally, he felt H'tsu shudder in release while letting out a pleased noise as fluid was pumped into his body. He was definitely relieved that, as long as he still had Hijastro, it would be some time before he would need to worry about H'tsu being able to impregnate him again.

"**Good pet, you are as wonderful as I remember,****"** H'tsu purred in his ear.

The hand around his mouth was removed and he flexed his jaw slightly.

"**Clean yourself. I do not desire Ichigo, or the others, to know of this little****…****. liaison. Should they find out, well, there would only be one other way to insure I won****'****t be denied access to my pet,****"**H'tsu smirked, before suddenly disappearing.

Szayel shivered and slowly forced his way to his feet, stumbling a bit before making his way to the bathroom they had been shown earlier. He came damn close to punching the mirror out when he caught sight of what he looked like.

Defeated, weak, terrified with tears slowly running down his face. He hadn't even realized he had been crying and he furiously wiped them away before turning on one of the shower heads and stepping under the scorching heat.

He scrubbed his skin raw, trying to get the feeling of H'tsu's touch off of him, to scrub out the threats that echoed in his mind. Hijastro… he would do anything to protect her, his first successful offspring, even if it meant suffering further at the hands of that…. _creature_.

He had no one but himself to blame for his situation. He had been the one to foolishly split Ichigo's soul apart and set the monster free, and now he was paying for it, in multiple spades. Never had one of his experiments backfire so spectacularly.

Forcing the thoughts away, he finished cleaning himself up before returning to the large den and crawling back into the nest to try and get some more rest, but his mind wouldn't let him and the pain in his rear and lower back from H'tsu's aggressive use of him didn't help any either.

There had to be a way to glue Ichigo's soul back together again, to insure that H'tsu couldn't manifest anymore. He had pulled them apart surly he could find a way to put them back together again. There had to be a way, there just had to be.

Any further attempts at thought were cut off as he heard the cubs begin to stir and it wasn't long before the two were eagerly climbing down the equipment to reach him. His eyes instantly went to his daughter, a strong feeling of relief flooding him to see her perfectly happy, if not hungry, as she trotted happily beside Cachorro on their way towards him to feed.

She made a noise of protest as he held her tightly, forcing back tears before forcing himself to release her so she could feed like Cachorro already was. If both cubs were awake than the Alpha Pair must be as well. He looked up to where the two still were but didn't catch sight of them, but he didn't need to. The shifting and twining of their reiatsu let him know easily enough that the two were busy paying attention to each other while the cubs were under his care.

He felt a flash of jealousy before turning it aside putting his attention back to the two cubs contently nursing from him. It was much better to focus on the very few positive things in his life than the large myriad of negative.

(POV)

"**What are you staring at?****"**H'tsu snapped as Zangetsu stared silently at him.

The stoic Zanpakuto Spirit didn't answer, just continued to stare at him in disapproval. There was a chance that Zangetsu would rat him out, but H'tsu doubted it. Even though the other part of Ichigo's soul didn't agree with the method, he agreed with what the end result was meant to be.

Despite his harsh words earlier, H'tsu would never actually harm Hijastro, nor permit another to. He had grown rather fond and pleased with his lovely daughter, but Szayel didn't know that. The Arrancar was just a means to an end and the only available target usable for his plan now that Grimmjow was back up to full strength and not so easy to target and subdue without gathering attention. Not to mention that Szayel was one Arrancar that he thoroughly enjoyed messing with and one he could release his own sexual frustrations upon.

Ichigo had been getting weak, once more forgetting this wasn't a pack of his human friends, but rather one full of blood thirsty hollows. He was letting his mate take the top and was even offering him the odd bit or oral pleasure, despite H'tsu's warnings and reminders what had happened the _last_ time the teen had been foolish enough to treat his mate as an equal.

If the teen didn't stiffen up again he would find himself challenged for leadership and have his place as Alpha stolen. H'tsu refused to see that happen, so he did the only thing he could think of. He would rise Ichigo's anger by bring up the most powerful of the teens strengths; his need to protect.

He wasn't foolish enough to target the cubs, he honestly couldn't harm them if he wanted to. But Szayel, ah yes, there was a target he could make suffer and enjoy doing it. Sooner or later Ichigo will notice that something is up, and than the teen should hopeful begin to investigate, to hunt. To follow his instincts and obey them the way he **should** be doing.

"**Stop scowling at me Zangetsu,****"**H'tsu snarled as he marched away**. ****"****It****'****s not like I hurt him that much anyhow. He deservers much worse for what he did to us, even if you are all too damn soft to see it done,****"**H'tsu spat as he continued to march away.

"They are no longer just hollows," Zangetsu pointed out. "He has suffered enough."

H'tsu didn't send back a retort, simply continued on his way. Zangetsu shook his head and silently promised to keep an eye on the situation least it get out of hand. He understood H'tsu's motives, and agreed with the outcome, even if he didn't agree with the method H'tsu was using to get to that outcome.

* * *

><p>H'tsu is such a prick. I got a good amount of the next chapter done, so hopefully I will be able to finish it and update it on time, but no promises. Energy fluxes hourly and more often than not I am napping. Hopefully see you all next week.<p>

Next Chapter: Old friends **finally** stop by to visit


	36. Friendly Visitors

Friendly Visitors

Karin hummed happily as she walked down the street, ever eager to meet her nephew and niece, as she considered Hijastro since H'tsu was a part of her brother so that made her family. She was most of the way to the warehouse when she spotted someone she hadn't seen in ages.

"Rukia-neechan," she called out in greeting.

Said Shinigami turned to stare at her in surprise, after all very few people could see ghosts and neither her nor her escort were currently trying to pass as human.

"Karin-chan," Rukia greeted her warmly as Karin jogged the last little bit of distance to catch up to the group.

"Are you here to see Ichi-nii?" Karin asked, eyeing up the strangers wearily.

She could feel their power and, unlike Rukia, they wore a white Haori over their uniforms with different numbers on their backs. Clearly these were men of both power and authority, no doubt Taichou like Toushiro giving what little she knew of Shinigami.

"Yes," Rukia agreed with a smile.

"Who are your friends?" Karin asked suspiciously.

"This is my nii-sama, Kuchiki Bykauya-taichou, and my own Taichou, Ukitake Jushiro-taichou," Rukia introduced.

"Pleased to meet you," Karin offered them a small bow, that only Jushiro returned with a warm smile.

"So you are one of Ichigo-san's sisters. It is a pleasure to meet you," Jushiro returned her greeting.

"Yes, Kurosaki Karin," she introduced herself.

"Urahara-san gave us the location, but we seem to be having problems finding the warehouse Ichigo is staying at," Rukia smiled at her.

"That's probably because it's shielded, and only those who have been permitted entrance by the residence can see it," Karin explained. "Or so I've been told. I don't know much more about it than that," she shrugged.

Karin eyed the two strangers again, their power radiating off of them in waves that reminded her strongly of her brother or Grimmjow. She supposed if Szayel was ever permitted to heal up properly he would probably feel similar as well.

"Oh. Can you show us where it is?" Rukia asked hopefully.

"I could… but," Karin bit her lip and studied them again. "I think Ichi-nii is meeting up with Ishida-san so they could study for a History report or something so he's not there right now, and usually Grimmjow and Yylfrodt are out hunting at this time of day. I am not so sure it would be wise to bring you there when the Alpha's are gone," she explained. "Especially since Tesra's egg is due to hatch any day now and he's pretty antsy and doesn't know you and neither do the cubs."

If it had just been Rukia she probably would have brought her, but she was fairly positive the Arrancar would be very uncomfortable having people as strong as these two men there. She also didn't know if their motive was friendly or not and she would not be responsible for anything bad happening to her family.

"You do not seem worried," Jushiro smiled at her.

"I am family and known," she shrugged. "And hardly a threat being human. Still, I think it would be best if Ichi-nii was here to smooth over any misunderstandings. I don't know how much you know about Hollow Customs when it comes to entering another's territory, but it's not something you really want to mess up."

"We can handle ourselves," Byakuya spoke up for the first time in a rather haughty voice.

"You aren't the one I care about," Karin snapped at him. "But if anything were to happen to Cachorro or Hijastro while your were flexing your pathetic boyish muscles in a fight to see who has the bigger dick, I would personally find a way to flay you alive myself and make sure such future cock fights become a very moot point," Karin growled, pleased at the shock looked that crossed the nobles face; be it from her threat or use of language she wasn't sure nor did she care.

Rukia looked horrified while Jushiro was doing his best not to smile or chuckle.

"Men," she snorted, turning her back on the still stunned noble. "If you would like, I could bring you home and offer you something to drink while we wait for Ichi-nii to finish studying and he can escort you over. I know he will be happy to see you again Rukia-neechan," Karin smiled at the woman.

"That would be wonderful, thank you Karin-chan," Jushiro answered for them, offering her a smile of pleasure.

Turning about, Karin led them to her house. She called Ishida's house first to let them know about the company before calling Szayel to let him know she wasn't going to be there to watch the cubs for him. One more phone call fixed her broken promise. Obligations complete, she headed into the kitchen/dinning room to offer her guests some form of hospitality. She wasn't Yuzu, but she wasn't a complete dunce in the kitchen or offering hospitality either.

"Ichi-nii said they got about two hours of homework, than he will come home to pick you guys up and bring you over," she explained as she offered them tea. "He didn't say it, but he's happy you finally came to visit," she smiled at Rukia.

"I just can't wait to finally meet Cachorro. If he's even half as cute as his picture…" Rukia trailed off with a sigh.

"Trust me, the pictures don't do him justice and if you think he's cute wait until you meet Hijastro," Karin sighed wistfully. "She is absolutely adorable."

"What do they eat?" Jushiro questioned curiously.

"Milk, what else would cubs eat?" Karin answered. "Szayel feeds them, something about being a Naturally Born Beta. It's a little disconcerting at first, but I am use to it now."

Jushiro and Rukia both had questions for her, and she answered what she could and apologized when she felt the answers would be better coming from others. Just over two hours later Ichigo came home.

There was no doubt the delight in his eyes as they fell upon his friends, but even that delight was slightly tampered by suspicion. Everyone finished their tea and than followed Ichigo towards the warehouse. Only Karin was smart enough to call ahead and let them know they were on their way.

(POV)

"It's still difficult to believe. Ain't it,"

"What is?"

"Us having cubs, and with whom we did, you more so than me. At least Tesra's still an Arrancar, but you mated with a blooming Shinigami, and let him have the top," Yylfordt couldn't help but to point out with a smirk.

"Che," Grimmjow spat. "Bastard got lucky. Next round it will be his ass that will be in the air. You didn't even have to vie for the top spot so I don't want to hear any more lip from you unless you want them removed," Grimmjow threatened. "Tesra always was a bitch," he couldn't help but to add with a grunt.

"Hmm, your right there bro," Yylfordt agreed. "Still, he's got one hell of a good ass," he chuckled. "I might even mate him again if the opportunity arises."

They walked in silence for some time, each of them alert for any trace or trail of potential food. Supposedly Urahara had gotten Szayel's Hollow Food recipe and should be able to start providing some soon, but substitutes could never hold up to the taste nor the thrill of hunting the real thing. Still, it would be nice not to need to hunt daily to keep the den fed so he could spend more time with the cubs.

"Would you have mated Szayel if you had known what he was back than?" Yylfordt questioned curiously, breaking the silence some time later.

"Probably," he admitted without hesitation.

If Ichigo wasn't in his life now he might have even considered mating him now (at least with the new attitude H'tsu had broken into him, screw the old). Natural Born Betas were more rare than Vasto Lorde and were pretty much guaranteed to provide cubs and the means to care for them.

"Mating sure toned his arrogant attitude down a bit," Yylfordt noted.

"H'tsu toned it down," Grimmjow corrected. "Ichigo's hollow half is one sick, twisted fuck, that's for sure. Neekem and D-roy had nothing on this bastard. Szayel was a damn near shredded mess and had been forced through two miscarriages within days of each other when Ichigo dragged his sorry ass into the pack."

Both of them stopped walked, a look of shock on the former fraccion's face.

"And first I was indifferent, your brother always was an arrogant bastard and if he couldn't appease his Alpha than he truly was an idiot, but the truth was he did everything he could, and some thing I honestly never would have thought of, to try and appease the bastard and none of it mattered. H'tsu's just a real fucking twisted bastard. If Ichigo hadn't found them and stepped in when he did than I have no doubts Hijastro would never had been laid, let alone hatched, and Cachorro would probably have starved to death. We got damn lucky."

He didn't like to think on just _how_ damn lucky they had been. Hijastro might not have been his, nor related in any way, but he had also grown fond of his son's playmate, not that he would ever, EVER admit it, just like how he would _never_ admit to _anyone_ how much he had come to enjoy being dominated by the teen Hybrid. Even just thinking about it brought stirrings of arousal and caused his body to tingle in anticipation. Fortunately, the roar of a far off hollow distracted them both. It was time to hunt.

(POV)

With everyone but Tesra, who was confined to his nest and refused to move with his egg so close to hatching, away on various tasks, that left a very exhausted Szayel to watch over and care for the cubs. He kept checking the time desperately. Karin should have been here by now to take over watching them so he could sleep, but she hadn't arrived yet. She wasn't one to be tardy. He would have gotten up and paced if he had the energy to do so, but H'tsu's attentions late last night had him fairly exhausted and drained.

Neither cub seemed to notice his discomfort or anxiety as they continued to play on their giant new toy. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the phone ring. It took a bit of digging to find the portable buried in his nest, but he did find it eventually and answered it with a large amount of trepidation.

"Yo, Szayel, it's Karin,"

He let out a soft sigh of relief. For a while there he had honestly feared something had happened to her for her to be so late. If something happened to her that would have put Ichigo in a bad mood, which would have put H'tsu in a really bad mood, which would have been taken out on him.

"Where are you?" he questioned concerned.

"At home. I was on my way over when I ran into Rukia-neechan and two Shinigami Taichou with her that were on their way to visit Ichi-nii. I didn't think it would be a good idea to lead them to the den when Ichi-nii wasn't there," she explained.

"A good choice," he agreed, feeling his body slowly relax a little bit now that he knew she was safe and had clearly averted what could have been a catastrophe.

Ichigo would be happy his friends finally came to visit, and what put him in a good mood tended to put H'tsu in a good mood, sometimes. Assuming the visit went well of course.

"Yeah, I think I offended the one with a stick shoved up his ass, but Jushiro-san seems like a really nice person so far so I think the cubs will like him. I got to go, sorry I can't be there to watch the hooligans so you can get some rest, but as long as you make sure the door is sealed I can't see how they could get into too much trouble if you take a cat nap. Heck, I can even text Orihime-chan and send her over if you think both you and Tesra would feel comfortable with her being there."

He thought of the bubbly girl Aizen had held prisoner, the same girl who had mended his shattered ankle as if it hadn't been dissolved into hundreds of tiny bone fragments with a very high chance of never having been able to walk properly again, even with very intensive reconstructive surgery.

He knew Tesra was fine with the girl as well, in fact the Arrancar was rather sheepish and somewhat….. something when she was around. Not quite embarrassed but definitely off. Neither one of their instincts would have any problems with the human girl.

"That would be appreciated," he agreed.

"Okay, I will give her a call. Get some rest, alright. I'll delay Ichi-nii's friends as long as I can so you can at least try and sleep up, clean up, and look somewhat presentable when we get there."

He could practically hear her smiling at him and he couldn't help but to let out a scoff of his own.

"I am always in nothing more than perfect splendour," he retorted.

"Of course," Karin chuckled before she hung up.

He turned the phone off himself and gave his head a bit of a shake. He truly did enjoy her sharp wit and wished she was older and wiser, for than he could really enjoy conversations with her.

Unfortunately, there were far too many years between them and he knew his vast intellect unnerved her sometimes. Which was a pity because no one else was willing to engage in a battle of wits with him other than Kisuke and the scientist rarely came by since his presence unnerved the other Arrancar. It was best not to unnerve the others when cubs were present as it could lead to a fatal misunderstanding.

"Cachorro, Hijastro, come here and feed," he called to the two cubs.

Karin was right about one thing, if they were expecting company he wanted to look his best, especially if they were Shinigami. It would be best to feed the cubs now so he could attempt to clean himself up a bit before they arrived.

Both cubs clambered down the equipment and raced towards him eagerly, making little hungry noises as he adjusted his yukuta to let them latch on and feed. He gave them both a squeeze and nestles their soft fur.

"You both need a bath," he commented with a soft smile.

"Ohayo, anyone home?" Orihime's cheerful voice called out from down the hall.

"In here," he called.

Orihime poked her head through the door and gave them a wide smile. She was still wearing her school uniform and he wondered if she had even had time to go home, more so when he noted she still had her school bag with her.

"Is that Orihime-san?" Tesra called out from his den.

"Hai," she called out, moving over to the entrance of the den Tesra shared with Yylfordt. "How are you doing, Tesra-san?" she questioned cheerfully.

"Well," he answered.

"Good," she chirped. "Karin-chan said that she couldn't come by since she had to entertain some guests so she asked if I could. I can't wait to see Rukia-chan again," she beamed.

The cubs finished eating and raced for the young human woman.

"Hay guys," she greeted happily as she kneeled down and enveloped both cubs in a giant hug. "Have you been behaving for Szayel-san?" she questioned.

Both cubs let out meows and nestled against her, knocking her off balance so she landed on her rump, laughing happily and they continued to rub against her.

"Alright, alright, I believe you," she laughed, scratching them both behind an ear each. "They need a bath," she chuckled.

"I was thinking the same, as do I," he frowned at his appearance.

"Well, I can wash these two up I think. I got my gym strip in my bag and I can change into that so I don't get my uniform dirty or wet," she smiled at him. "Why don't you go ahead and shower first, that way you can get some rest while I deal with these two."

He nodded in agreement and forced himself to walk to the bathroom with back straight and showing none of the weakness, or pain in his rear, to the others. Not that he expected her to notice, Orihime wasn't the most observant and her attention was completely on the two cubs.

He didn't take long and was pleased to note that with a little foundation under his eyes he was able to at least appear somewhat receivable of company, even if exhaustion still hung to his frame like some sort of bad aura. He watched the cubs for a moment while Orihime changed into her shorts and t-shirt before herding the excited cubs to the bathroom. Both cubs absolutely loved water so it was less herding and more walking quickly to keep up.

Orihime laughed happily as the two cubs tumbled about in the small, shallow swimming pool. She was fairly wet herself but was having far too much fun to care. There was a large collection of toys to amusing themselves with and every minute she kept them distracted here was another minute poor Szayel had a chance to rest and get some time to himself.

(POV)

She had noticed the black marks under his eyes and the way his reiatsu felt so raggedly exhausted, but had been too polite to say something. Maybe she should see if they wouldn't mind her stopping by more often to watch the cubs. She completely adored them.

"Kurosaki-kun, always so stubborn and trying to do everything yourself," she sighed. "And your Arrancar friends are not much better," she couldn't help but to smile softly. "Men," she chuckled, "always too stubborn to think of or to ask for help. Or offer to help," she added as she thought of Ishida.

Well, since the men were too stubborn to see they needed help, it was up to the woman to do something about it. She would talk to Karin and between the two of them they would easily be able to give the poor men a bit of a break. With a bit of work even Tatsuki-chan might be able to help, if the Arrancar managed to accept her presence.

"It takes a village," she declared, a flash of determination in her eyes.

The cubs ignored her monologue, too busy splashing about and letting out squeals of delight and pleasure. One particularly good splash managed to completely soak Orihime, breaking her out of her musing.

"Oi," she protested, splashing them back.

She was soaked through before they finally settled down long enough that she could get them to sit still while she gave them a thorough washing. By the time they were both scrubbed clean they were getting ready to nap, which made drying them and brushing out their fur so much easier.

Cachorro let out little meows of pleasure while Hijastro actually purred and occasionally buzzed her wings lightly in pleasure. Both were asleep by the time she carried them back out to the main den; cleaned, brushed and ready for slumber. They woke up long enough to curl up next to Szayel, who didn't even stir as the cubs nestled against him, before falling asleep one more.

Orihime let out a content smile at the sight before retreating to the bathroom to dry up herself and change back to her uniform. All three were still slumbering peacefully when she emerged. Sitting down on the couch she pulled out her school work and hummed happily as she started on her own homework. She nearly jumped when she heard the phone ring and had to dig it out from the nest to answer it.

"Oh, Karin-chan. You're on your way? Okay. Alright. I'll make sure everyone is awake. No I haven't seen Grimmjow or Yylfordt yet but they should be back soon," she frowned as she looked at her watch. "Uh huh. Alright. See you in a bit than."

She hung up the phone and looked at the slowly stirring cubs. She checked on Tesra first, gently waking him up to let him know company was coming. He looked rather nervous and only grew more so when he learned Yylfordt wasn't back yet. Orihime pulled the curtains closed over the entrance to his den. It helped a little.

Cachorro and Hijastro were both awake now, yawning and stretching.

"Oi, Szayel-san," Orihime called gently.

The Arrancar stirred softly, letting out a groan.

"Kurosaki-kun is on his way over. They should be here soon."

Golden eyes blinked open to stare at her incomprehensively for a moment before her words sunk in.

"Are Grimmjow and Yylfordt back yet?"

"No, not yet. They should be soon though," she frowned as she looked at her watch again. "Maybe they aren't having much luck hunting," she suggested.

"Or too much luck," he murmured.

He obviously forced himself to sit up and tidy the nest up a bit before checking over his appearance and the cubs. Hijastro meowed in protest as her fur was brushed out again until it positively gleamed. Cachorro was less annoyed as Orihime brushed him out once more as well, moving happily into the strokes of the brush.

(POV)

"I am surprised Renji didn't come," Ichigo comment as he walked in the lead with Rukia by his side.

"He wanted to, but I think he did something to upset Nii-sama and got sentenced to sitting in the office doing paperwork for the next four weeks," she chuckled.

"Wouldn't you need to actually have emotions before it became possible to become upset," Ichigo smirked, a smirk that only widened as he felt the smouldering glare burn into his back from behind while Rukia instantly started to defend her adopted brother.

Karin and Jushiro shared a quiet chuckle as the two argued like siblings. Ichigo couldn't help the smirk from forming on his lips and after a moment, Rukia stopped arguing and smirked back.

"I missed you midget," he said affectionately.

"You too idiot," she returned.

"Did Karin inform you on proper etiquette?" He asked, looking back over his shoulder at the two trailing Taichou.

"She did," Jushiro answered. "If it looks like our presence is causing tension we will back away," he assured.

"Good."

They arrived quickly enough and Ichigo led them inside the building, where they removed their shoes. Rukia fell back a bit as Karin moved forward and walked down the hall ahead of them so she was the first one to the room.

"Oi, we're here," Karin called.

Near identical cries of delight came from the main room and the Shinigami made it to the door just in time to see Cachorro and Hijastro tumble into Karin's legs, rubbing against her and demanding attention like any kittens. The sound of Hijastro's purring could be heard even from the door.

"Hay brats," Ichigo greeted fondly as he moved into the room.

Karin was instantly abandoned as the cubs raced for their Sire, who swept them both up in a large hug and brought them over to the jungle gym so he could set them down at eye level.

"How are you feeling Szayel?" Ichigo questioned the Arrancar sitting in the only chair and appeared to be helping Orihime with her homework.

"Tired, but well," he answered, eyes roving intently over the intruders. "Your friends I take it?"

"Yeah, I'll introduce you in a second. Karin, can you check on Tesra for me," he requested.

"Of course," Karin agreed and moved over to side den to see how the other Beta was handling the intruders, even though the closed curtain cut off any visuals.

"Thanks for coming over Inoue," Ichigo thanked.

"No problems," The girl beamed happily at him. "And it's so good to see you Rukia-chan, Ukitaki-san, Byakuya-san," she smiled at the Shinigami still waiting patiently by the door as they had been instructed.

Jushiro and Rukia returned the warm greeting while Byakuya remained silent, his eyes intent on the cubs nestling against Ichigo and enjoying having their ears scratched.

"Alright Rukia, come on over, slowly."

There was clear excitement in her posture as Rukai forced herself to walk slowly and calmly over to Ichigo and the cubs. They ignored her until she was right beside Ichigo, only than did they eye her suspiciously. She held out a hand like one would to any skittish animal and waited.

Cachorro and Hijastro sniffed her offered hand wearily before Cachorro butted his head against it. With a soft smile Rukia let her hand move over his head and scratch behind an ear. Hijastro tossed aside any reservations on her part and quickly tried to get some attention for herself.

"Their fur is so soft, especially Hijastro's," Rukia exclaimed.

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed with a smile.

Only half his attention was on his cubs, the other half was checking to see how Szayel was handling a Shinigami touching his cub. So far Szayel seemed to he handling it well, but Rukia wasn't a very threatening figure to a former Espada. Most of Szayel's attention was on the two far more powerful beings by the door.

"Why don't you go join Orihime-chan so I can introduce them to the others," Ichigo suggested after it was clear neither cub nor parent had any issues with Rukia's presence.

"Alright," she pouted, giving them both a final scratch behind the ears before joining Orihime on one of the couches, the two instantly dissolving into girlish giggles as they talked softly about the cubs.

"Jushiro-san, come on over, slowly," Ichigo called.

Jushiro slowly removed his Zanpakuto and set it against the door frame before moving into the room. Szayel had stiffened momentarily when the Shinigami's hands had touched the hilt of his blade, but relaxed a bit more when he realized Jushiro was deliberately disarming himself to appear less of a threat.

Like Rukia he approached the cubs slowly, giving them time to get use to his presence. Both eyed him far more wearily than they had Rukia as the more powerful Shinigami approached them.

"It's okay," Ichigo soothed them softly.

Jushiro paused several feet away before going to his knees and finishing closing the distance, offering a hand much like Rukia had, a soft smile on his fatherly face as he gazed upon the cubs.

This time it was Hijastro who approached the hand slowly, Cachorro just off to her side as he watched his sister approach the stranger; little claws digging into the carpet of the jungle gym and rear shifting as he made himself more comfortable.

Jushiro remained still as Hijastro sniffed his fingers and he didn't move them as she nipped the ends lightly before licking them. Still weary, she nuzzled the hand, and let out a very soft purr as he finally moved slightly to lightly scratch her chin.

Cachorro joined her side by this point, also sniffing, nipping and licking the fingers before finally permitting himself to be petted. Unlike with Rukia, Ichigo kept all of his attention on Szayel this time. It was very unlikely the cubs could hurt Jushiro. While Szayel was definitely less comfortable with Jushiro touching his daughter than he had been with Rukia, the former Espada calmed down when it was clear both cubs had accepted the strange Shinigami.

"They are beautiful, Ichigo," Jushiro commented. "Their fur truly is soft," he noted.

"Yeah," Ichigo agreed.

Hijastro buzzed her wings in pleasure as Jushiro scratched her vigorously behind an ear and the sound of her purring quickly escalated. Even Cachorro meowed loudly in pleasure as Jushiro scratched him at the base of his tail, a favourite of most felines.

Jushiro retreated to sit on the other empty couch across from the girls as Ichigo turned his attention to Byakuya.

"Alright, come on in," Ichigo called.

He could tell instantly that this wasn't going to go as well. Unlike Jushiro, Byakuya kept Senbonzakura at his hip, which instantly set Szayel's hackled up. He walked confidently into the room and while he did approach slowly, it was with a fair amount of confidence in his stride.

Hijastro burred herself into her Sire's chest and Cachorro glared at the intruder while also backing into his Sire. The Noble must have noticed he was causing distress for he paused several feet away from the cubs, who continued to eye him unhappily, or at least Cachorro did, Hijastro remained buried in her Sire's chest unhappily.

Ichigo could tell this was not going as well and could practically feel Szayel's apprehension without needing to turn around to check how the Arrancar was doing. With another whimper, Hijastro suddenly left him, jumping down from her perch and darting across the room to jump into Szayel's lap, nuzzling against him.

A lot of tension seeped out of the Arrancar and his offspring as they cuddled together. Before long Hijastro was purring softly as Szayel stroked her fur comfortingly, occasionally fluttering her wings slightly in pleasure. Ichigo had to hold back a chuckle at the sight as he was oddly reminded of the Cliché evil scientist/villain stroking his white cat curled in his lap. Soft smiles were touching his friends lips as well as they witnessed the soft scene between parent and offspring.

With Hijastro over with her 'mothering' parent, Cachorro seemed to calm down a bit too and a lot of tension drained from the room. Unlike Szayel, Ichigo was not at all concerned about anyone approaching his cub, and Cachorro must have picked up on his Sire's relaxed state for most of the grey fur was once more sleeked down a bit as Cachorro let Byakuya finally finish closing the distance between them so the Noble could stiffly hold out his hand for inspection.

Cachorro blinked at it for a moment, and than lunged forward and bit the offered hand hard enough that Byakuya actually flinched in pain and pulled back, once white gloves now speckled with red blood and bearing four puncture marks.

Cachorro bolted away as the room filled with sudden, loud, amused laughter. Ichigo turned about just in time to see Cachorro leap into Grimmjow's arms, meowing happily and nuzzling into the returning parent in pleasure and finally getting the former Espada to stop laughing.

Rukia looked horrified but Jushiro looked like he was desperately trying not to laugh to try and save Byakuya some sort of face.

"Good work brat," Grimmjow smirked at his son, giving him an affectionate ruff rub behind the ears that had Cachorro meowing in pleasure and trying to nuzzle more firmly against him.

"Disrespect for your betters continues to run in your family I see," Byakuya commented coldly as he pulled out a white scarf from somewhere in his robes and wrapped up his bleeding hand.

It wasn't bleeding too badly and the puncture marks were not very deep. The only real damage was to the nobles pride.

"I warned you they were sensitive," Ichigo pointed out with a smirk. "How was hunting?" he called over to his mate, walking across the room to join his family.

"Long," Grimmjow answered, turning his attention from their son to his Alpha.

Ichigo caught the tale end of Yylfordt disappearing into the den he shared with Tesra, Karin emerging a moment latter and raising an eye as she noticed the fresh wrapping on Byakuya's hand.

"I warned you," she scoffed at the noble before making her way over to sit beside Rukia and Orihime.

Hijastro seemed content to stay where she was, the sound of her soft purring filling the room, although her gaze did remain locked on the intruding Noble that neither cub seemed to have taken a liking too.

"They are both very adorable," Jushiro spoke up, pulling the attention his way.

Hijastro let out a purring meow that sounded suspiciously like agreement before butting Sazyel's hand, demanding to know why he had dared to stop petting her. He gave her a scratch behind the ears, but was honestly still exhausted from the long days and nights to keep petting her.

"Come here, I'll pet you," Karin smiled at her niece.

Hijastro didn't need a second invitation and simple hopped onto the arm of the chair before leaping over to the couch the three girls were sitting on. Three sets of hands were instantly stroking her fur and the sound of loud purring quickly echoed through out the room as the cub made herself comfortable on Karin's lap, who was sitting in the middle.

Well, this didn't sit well with Cachorro. Although he was pleased to have the approval of his parents, he wasn't getting petted like that! How unfair!

"Why don't you shower up, you got blood splattered on your clothes," Ichigo pointed out as he took the now squirming Cachorro.

"Nothing wrong with a bit of blood," Grimmjow snorted.

"Go clean up," he reiterated firmly.

Grimmjow gave off a snort, but did retreat to take a quick shower and change into something not stained red with blood. Ichigo carried Cachorro over to the only spare space to sit, on the couch next to Jushiro.

Cachorro wasted no time demanding attention, crawling out of his fathers lap to sit between the two men and close his own eyes in content as hands began to pet him as well, pausing only to offer wonderful scratches behind his ears or at the base of his tail.

"They truly are marvellous," Jushiro commented.

"You have no idea," Ichigo couldn't help but to smile softly at his cubs. "They can be a handful at time, they have so much energy, but most of the time they are pretty well behaved," he couldn't help but to send a smirk at Byakuya at that comment.

"The other Arrancar that came in with your companion, who was that?" Jushiro asked.

"That was Yylfordt, Szayel's older brother," Ichigo nodded at the silent Arrancar who almost appeared to be dozing lightly in the comfortable chair he was sitting in. "His mate is Tesra. Their egg is due to hatch soon so neither one likes to be away from the nest for long," Ichigo explained.

"That's one of the reasons I wanted Ichi-nii to be here. Alpha's apparently get pretty territorial when their young is due and they got a Beta nearby," Karin spoke up. "Tesra seems alright with me but I can never get a read on Yylfordt and any accidents with him would most likely prove fatal ones," she shrugged.

"You don't seem scared Karin," Rukia noted.

"It's no different than coming across a bear in the woods," she shrugged. "Or a pissed off bull in a pasture," she added with a sudden chuckle that was lost on the Shinigami.

Grimmjow returned with his hair damp from a shower and wearing the old Yukuta Ichigo had first pawned off on him what seemed like years ago.

"Only clean thing I could find," the Arrancar grunted when he noticed his Alpha's eyes sizing him up.

Ichigo moved over on the couch to let his mate sit beside him, Cachorro meowing briefly in protest as he was moved from the cushion onto his Sire's lap; a protest that died quickly when he realized he now had three sets of hands petting him instead of two. He could live with that.

* * *

><p>Thank you all so much for the congratulations. In accordance with Fanficiton rules (which actually forbid note chapters) I deleted the note chapter and uploaded the real one. I am not sure what affect it will have on reviews but either way I have them all saved. For those of you that missed the note: on Thursday May 10th I was admitted to the hospital for killer high blood pressure, was flown to a bigger hospital May 11th, and delivered my baby via Ceaseren May 12th.<p>

I finally got a few seconds to spare to upload this chapter. No word on when the next one will be done and go up. I am not home yet and will probably be at the hospital for a minimum two more weeks waiting for the munch kin to gain weight and be able to feed on his own. Home is pretty far away so I have been, and will continue to live, in the guest room at the hospital for parents.

See you all next update, whenever that may be. For those of you following me on Adultfan, the hospital internet blocks connections to that site so I won't be able to update there for some time


	37. Wrong Attraction

Wrong Attraction

The visit went rather well, minus the beating Byakuya's pride had taken at being successfully bitten by a mere hollow cub. The cubs eventually got hungry and the Shinigami watched in various states of shock and interest as the cubs fed before darting off to play on their improvised jungle gym. One could almost see the love blossom further in Rukia and Jushiro's eyes as the cubs played excitedly, tumbling about and just being their adorable selves.

Szayel had remained relatively silent during the evening, almost seeming to doze contently once it was established the Shinigami posed no threat to them. Yylfordt emerged at one point, pausing briefly to wearily accept introductions before heading to the kitchen to bring something back for Tesra to eat. Karin made sure her eyes were on the cubs since her father had made it very clear what he thought about his daughters watching hollows feed or staring at corpses (as if she hadn't already seen her share of hollow corpses before but her father didn't need to know about that).

Unfortunately it **was** a school night and that meant those still in school needed to get some sleep. Orihime volunteered to escort Karin home, the girls sharing hugs with Rukia and promises to keep in touch before the two human woman assured a sleepy Szayel that they would stop by tomorrow afternoon after school so he could get _something_ resembling rest.

With it getting late and Ichigo also needing to go to school the next day he politely informed his guest it was time to leave. Jushiro thanked him for the hospitality and lead the way out of the warehouse with an invite from Ichigo to visit again.

By the time Ichigo was done escorting their guests out, set dates and times for another visit and returned to the main den, Szayel was already curled up in the large nest and was sleeping soundly with Hijastro curled up contently beside him. Ichigo had noticed the pink haired Arrancar was exhausted, but he hadn't realized just how exhausted.

"Did he at least eat?" Ichigo asked concerned as he entered the den he shared with his own mate and child.

"Yeah, I managed to get him to get something down his throat while you escorted your friends out," Grimmjow answered, sitting in the middle of the nest and brushing Cachorro's fur out, the cub yawning sleepily and contently as he lay in the Arrancar's lap.

"Good," Ichigo yawned as he stripped and crawled into the nest next to his family. "He could take one of the side dens, I wonder why he chooses to remain in the main one?" Ichigo questioned curiously.

Grimmjow answered with a shrug, permitting Cachorro to squirm out of his lap to curl up beside his Sire, meowing softly for attention. Ichigo let out a soft sigh of content and rubbed his son between the ears.

"I can't believe you bit Byakuya," he admonished with a soft smirk of amusement.

"Was a damn good bite too," Grimmjow smirked in pleasure, laying down himself and giving Cachorro a vigorous pat as well.

It didn't take long for the family to settle down to sleep. It had been a long day for all around with the promise of another long day tomorrow.

(POV)

Grimmjow woke with a start, glancing around in confusion to try and determine what had jerked him awake. He felt soft fur tickle his chest as one of the cubs shifted into a more comfortable position, but otherwise everything seemed normal and secure. There was no reason he should have…

Wait!

One of the cubs? As in there was now more than one in the nest with them?

Sure enough a second glance confirmed that Hijastro was curled up along side him and shifted as he did, making herself more comfortable. She let out a yawn and wiggled a bit more to get closer to her brother and his body heat before drifting off into peaceful slumber again. The sound of her soft purring reached his ears briefly before a deep sleep pulled her completely down.

While it wasn't unusual for Hijastro to curl up with them (as far as she understood Ichigo was her Sire and Cachorro her brother) it was very odd for her to join them in the middle of the night when she had already bedded down with Szayel. What the heck had prompted her to join them? Szayel was very protective of his daughter and it was pretty damn unlikely he would let her out of sight after the stress of having Shinigami invade their den and touch their offspring; even if everything had gone smoothly and the cubs seemed to like most of them.

Before he could ponder on the mystery much further, he transferred his frown to Ichigo as he felt the hybrids reiatsu flutter strangely for a minute. It wasn't that odd, the teen had no control what so ever over it, but compounded with Hijastro's strange appearance in their nest and his own innate instincts to detect trouble, he felt his hackles rise.

Untangling himself from the pillows and blankets he moved towards the curtain that separated their den from the main room and looked over towards the large nest Hijastro _should_ have been curled in. Szayel was clearly awake and moving slowly, wincing in pain as he stood up and stumbled a bit before catching his balance and moving towards the exit. He was walking with a very familiar limp and if that wasn't damning enough his thighs glistened wetly in the dim light.

"_What the fuck?__"_he silently questioned confused.

Without a single moment of hesitation he followed Szayel into the bathroom, stopping at the door to watch. Szayel paused to look at himself in the mirror before turning sadly away and stepping towards one of the showers, his body tightening briefly in pain as he did so.

With the brighter bathroom light Grimmjow could clearly see the white and red liquid running down Szayel's legs, as well as a dusting of fresh bite and claw marks that would no doubt heal by morning but were probably stinging pretty bad right now. The traces were slowly starting to fade, but he could feel H'tsu's disgusting reiatsu all over the Natural Born Beta.

It shouldn't have been any of his business. He shouldn't have giving a flying fuck about what H'tsu and Szayel did, but he did. He cursed Kurosaki to the nine hells and back again for making him begin to worry about others, for bringing about these maternal instincts thanks to their mating and offspring.

"How long has this shit been going on?" Grimmjow demanded in very displeased growl.

Szayel whipped around to face him so damn fast he was honestly surprised the former Espada didn't get whiplash, but what shocked him the most was the look of pure terror that crossed Szayel's face as they stared at each other.

Szayel opened and closed his mouth several times, clearly trying to speak but being unable to voice anything for several seconds, be it out of shock or fear it was hard to say.

"Grimmjow? What are you doing up?" he managed to ask nervously.

"_Your_ daughter woke me up crawling into my nest, and don't change the subject. How long has this shit been going on?" he demanded again, taking several steps into the bathroom.

Szayel backed up a bit until his back hit the shower wall, his fear practically radiating off of him in waves and he unconsciously bared his throat, averted his eyes and took a submissive posture expected of an Omega facing a furious superior.

The posture pleased him and soothed his temper, but only slightly. It wasn't Szayel he was necessarily pissed at.

"I don't know…"

"Bull shit," Grimmjow interrupted before Szayel could finish making any form of denial statement. "How long?" he demanded again.

The room remained silent for a minute before Szayel finally answered in a strained whisper.

"Since we moved here from Kisuke's," he answered weakly.

Now that took him by surprise. They had been here for a few weeks already and H'tsu had been out and about all that time without anyone the wiser! The mere thought of it sent a chill up Grimmjow's spine as he recalled being pinned to Ichigo's couch with violent golden eyes boring into his own shortly after his own mating. He went through several set's of emotion; from fear to panic to rage. He ended on rage.

He turned about and started to march out of the bathroom, intent to deal with this problem here and now.

"Grimmjow wait, he'll kill her!" Szayel cried out fearfully as he leaped forward and grabbed him by the arm to prevent his leaving. "He said if I let anyone find out what was going on he wouldn't hesitate to kill her. Please don't say anything, I couldn't bear loosing her," he begged with a strangled sob. "Not another cub, not after so many failures," he added, damn near hiccupping.

Grimmjow felt a bolt of ice race up his spine. That **any** Sire could so easily threaten to kill their own offspring! This shit was stopping now. He'd had enough of H'tsu from the first time they had met and now the bastard had truly crossed the line. It was time the creature was put in his place.

"Do you honestly think any of us would permit that to happen?" he questioned sharply. "Especially Ichigo. The fool would sacrifice his own life for pretty much anything, let alone any of the cubs," he pointed out as he jerked his arm free and marched back to their den.

Szayel stared after him stunned before shaking it off and chassed after him. Fear was practically radiating off of Szayel in waves as the scientist babbled incoherently to try and stop him. He completely ignored it and grabbed Szayel's wrist, before he could attempt to run once they reached the entrance to the den he shared with Ichigo, and dragged him in forcefully against his will.

"Oi, wake up Kurosaki," Grimmjow snarled.

Ichigo jerked awake with a start, causing the cubs to meow softly in complaint. Szayel stiffened in his grip and ceased all attempts at trying to escape now that the pack Alpha was coherent.

"Grimmjow? Szayel? What's wrong?" Ichigo demanded groggily, concern evident in his voice.

"This is what," Grimmjow growled and forced Szayel to turn around so Ichigo could see the damage, ignoring how stiff Szayel suddenly went in his arms and holding him still despite the weak resistance.

It took a moment for the teen to register what it was Grimmjow wanted him to look at, but when the Pack Alpha finally figured it out both former Espada nearly stumbled under the wave of enraged pressure that skyrocketed out of Ichigo. The cubs meowed loudly in protest at the crushing force before Ichigo managed to reign it back in.

The wave of anger was almost on par to the anger he had felt Ichigo give off when Kurotsuchi had threatened their cub and his cronies had nearly beaten Szayel to death. Despite the anger Grimmjow felt and the shiver of fear that raced up his spine as Ichigo's reiatsu washed over them, he also felt his blood stir towards lust as he recalled that this powerful creature was his mate, had chosen him to bear their offspring and, so help him, would one day bear his.

"How long?" Ichigo demanded sharply.

Szayel remained silent so Grimmjow gave him a firm but short shake, pulling a whimper out of his prisoner and making it clear he had better answer.

"Since we got here," Szayel answered weakly.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Ichigo questioned sharply.

"He said…" Szayel shivered and clamped his mouth shut. Grimmjow gave him another firm shake and growled lowly under his own breath in warning, causing Szayel to cringe and somehow shrink into himself even more. "He said he would kill Hijastro if I didn't let him have me or if I said anything," Szayel finally forced his answer out in a rush of barely understandable words and ended in a strangled sob.

The room was silent for a moment and Szayel's tear filled, fearful eyes remained fixed on his daughter, as if terrified she would suddenly just disappear from before them.

"Watch the cubs," Ichigo ordered in a cold voice neither Arrancar had ever heard him use before as he untangled himself from the blankets and stormed off, fury in every one of his steps.

"You heard him," Grimmjow growled as he finally released his prisoner and gave him a shove towards the nest and cubs.

Szayel stumbled a bit at the shove but wasted no time rushing to his daughter and sweeping her up in his grasp, holding her tightly and curling up around her protectively. His entire body was shaking with pent up emotion.

Hijastro meowed in protest for a moment before settling down. Cachorro just curled up beside them before letting out a large yawn and going back to sleep.

Grabbing his own Zanpakuto's from its place on the weapon's rack that was mounted high up on the wall so little cubs couldn't get to them, Grimmjow followed after Ichigo. There were a large number of things Pantera was going to be explaining to H'tsu weather Ichigo wanted his help or not. He only paused briefly to make sure Szayel was going to obey their orders and not attempt to run with his daughter and hide, but his fellow former Espada was damn near catatonic and clearly not going to be moving anytime soon.

The cubs, now that they were awake, were clambering to be fed and Szayel did shift his position curled up around them so they could feed.

Satisfied, Grimmjow stormed off in Ichigo's wake, following the teen down the stairs that led to the underground training facility and firmly closing the door behind them so the rest of the pack wouldn't have to feel the battle and so that there was a barrier to prevent H'tsu from escaping from them long enough to live up to his threat should the hollow foolishly attempt it.

Ichigo looked over at him curiously for a moment as he joined the teen before giving him a small smile of pleasure. Fortunately, the teen said nothing of his presence and simply hardened his will once more before H'tsu appeared before them, seeming somewhat sleepy and confused. Neither one of them gave the hollow a chance to recover as they both brought their Zanpakuto down upon the one being punished for overstepping his bounds.

(POV)

It came as one hell of a shock to the hollow when H'tsu suddenly found himself manifested in the dessert of the underground training room. He had been sleeping contently after enjoying a wonderful evening with his pet. When he was done with his toy he had deliberately forced Ichigo's reiatsu to fluctuate, but the teen had simply slept soundly through the disturbance and showed no signs of noticing one of his pack members was clearly suffering distress.

As much as it pissed him off Ichigo could remain so oblivious to what was happening right under his nose, Zangetsu was annoyingly right when the Shinigami part of their shared soul pointed out just how much pressure Ichigo was under between his school work, ruling the pack and parental obligations. It was no wonder Ichigo was constantly asleep so deep that it would take an earthquake to awaken him.

H'tsu tossed the thoughts aside as he stared up at two sets of eyes glaring at him with murderous intent. He had watched the teen's mind for several minutes after finishing with Szayel and Ichigo had shown no signs of stirring, so clearly Ichigo hadn't noticed that something was up, and least not on his own. But if Ichigo hadn't figured out what was going on and had been contently sleeping until a moment ago…

H'tsu turned his attention to Grimmjow. The Arrancar had been the one to have figured it out! And what more, had brought it to Ichigo's attention. This was not something H'tsu had been expecting. Instead of getting the pissed off, instinctively driven 'I must irrationally protect all' hybrid he had been expecting, he was being confronted by a united front. The Alpha pair was furious and ready to defend some nigh worthless Omega, who only had value because he was a Natural Born Beta, as if he was one of their own cubs.

This just didn't make sense to him. Ichigo he could see, and had planned for, simply because of the hybrids nature, but Grimmjow? What care did the violent hollow have for some weak creature who should have been able to defend himself? It just didn't make sense. Szayel was neither his mate nor his blood so what did Grimmjow care about what happened to the Beta outside of being able to feed his cub?

'_They are no longer just hollows.__'_

Zangetsu's comment came back to him just before he barely had time to start dodging. It was unlike Ichigo to attack without speaking first, thus it was a testament to just how pissed the teen was. H'tsu barely managed to dodge the surprise attack only to move into another attack launched his way by the hybrid's equally displeased mate.

This was definitely something he had never expected to face, the two working in silent tandem to see as much bodily harm done to him as was possible. He almost swore he could feel Zangetsu giving him a knowing look behind those black shades of his, as if saying 'told you so idiot' without actually saying anything.

The battle, if it could be called that, last about half an hour before H'tsu felt his mangled body dragged violently back inside of Ichigo's inner world. Zangetsu stared silently down at him as he lay in a growing puddle of his own blood that stained the glass window crimson.

"**Shut up,****"** H'tsu snarled at his roommate, but didn't have the energy to do much more as he lay prone on the side of the slanted building.

Rain was coming down in torrents and lightning flashed across the sky chased by loud claps of thunder. H'tsu hadn't seen this world in such turmoil since Kurotsuchi had gone after Ichigo's pack and family.

"**Not quite the response I was expecting,****"** H'tsu chuckled, although it came out rather gargled thanks to the blood running down his throat.

Ichgio materialized before them, his eyes cold and narrowed in fury.

"Why?" the teen demanded darkly.

"**You were becoming weak again,****"**H'tsu answered, staggering unsteadily to his feet.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed sharply at H'tsu's answer, clearly not finding it to be adequate enough.

"**Pleasuring your pet, asking the others for their input,****"** H'tsu spat. **"****You are the Pack Alpha. Alpha****'****s don****'****t ask for shit, they order it,****"**H'tsu snapped.

"They are no longer just hollows," Ichigo growled, unknowingly echoing Zangetsu's earlier statement. "They are part Shinigami now too. If you ever dare to hurt another soul or threaten any of the cubs, I will personally see your existence extinguished," Ichigo declared coldly before turning his attention towards Zangetsu. "And you knew about this?" The teen demanded.

"I will not hold your hand Ichigo," Zangetsu commented. "While going about it the wrong way, I agree with the ideal behind his actions. You are the leader, and yet you failed to notice one of your pack was being abused right before you. Is your greatest desire not to protect others?" Zangetsu questioned.

(POV)

Ichigo's fury was quickly extinguished and turned to a more stricken/horrified feeling as Zangetsu's words sunk in. He had completely failed to notice anything was amiss with Szayel other than he was constantly exhausted, but he had attributed that to caring for the cubs. He should have noticed something was up, Grimmjow had and Grimmjow was not as concerned over Szayel as he was.

It was a sign just how much his mate had changed that Grimmjow had noticed anything at all and than had actually _acted_ upon it. The same Grimmjow who had firmly declared that Szayel would only be permitted to remain for as long as it took Hijastro to hatch, who had felt nothing but contempt for a Beta that couldn't appease his Alpha.

Despite his own inner self loathing for failing to protect one of his companions, for basically being the instrument for his pain, he felt a small sense of pride for how far and how much Grimmjow had changed over the months. Having a cub had certainly brought out a less violent side in his mate.

"**You going to mope King,****"** H'tsu taunted. **"****Remember, the moment you lose your resolve I will take over and place you beneath me. Than I will be able to enjoy your pet as well as my own! Maybe even both of them at the same time,****"**he added with a lecherous smirk.

Ichigo felt his resolve return to it's iron will as he glared at his Hollow counterpart with barely suppressed fury. H'tsu smirked, and than disappeared into a Sonido as the hollow left, leaving the teen alone with Zangetsu.

"Iron will, always look forward," Zangetsu reminded him.

Ichigo nodded his head and left his inner world. Grimmjow was standing near by, panting lightly from their exertion over beating the ever living crap out of H'tsu. The expression on the former Espada's face was one of satisfaction, and yet hunger.

"Well?"

"I doubt he will be an issue again," Ichigo answered, giving his head a shake and forcing himself not to dwell upon H'tsu's accusations about how he had failed to protect his own. If he dared to wallow in self pity Zangetsu would no doubt lecture him, and if Rukia ever found out it would be another lecture plus a beating.

"Good," Grimmjow grunted. "We should get cleaned up before heading back upstairs."

Even though the suggestion was sound, something about the smirk on his face and the look in his eye led Ichigo to believe that 'cleaning up' was the last thing on Grimmjow's mind, at least not without getting dirtier first.

"A good idea," Ichigo smiled at him.

Both of them made their way over to the hot spring but were stopped halfway there when Szayel dared to creep hesitantly down the first several stairs.

"What is it?" Ichigo called concerned.

Something big must have been happening of Szayel dared to come anywhere near where he knew H'tsu was and to leave the cubs, especially his daughter, unattended and out of his sight when he was clearly so distraught. Although it at least looked like he took the time to clean himself up a bit and pull his Yukuta on.

"Tesra and Yylfordt's egg is hatching," he answered quickly with just the barest hint of excitement before going back up the stairs in a hurry.

Both men shared a surprised glance before rushing to the hot spring to wipe most of the blood off and racing for the stairs themselves, all though of passionate, after battle sex suddenly off of their minds.

* * *

><p>Well, most of the major renovations are done and a good amount of stuff is unpacked. The munchkin is sleeping a bit better and I have a few minutes I can finally call my own. This is one of those chapters that would have been infinitely better animated and I am not all that pleased with how it turned out, but I ain't going to make you all wait longer. Not much left to this story and I just hope I can get the time to finish it off in a reasonable time frame.<p>

/love all of you that took the time to review. I have a thing about giving out too much personal information on the net, so sorry for those of you that asked, but I won't be giving out my son's name. Heaven forbid years down the road someone read this and put two and two together and torment the poor lad about how his mother wrote smut online. We chose a very unique name so it wouldn't be hard


	38. Another Arrival

Another Arrival

Szayel shivered in fear as he felt another rise in the reiatsu battling it out below him. True the shielding damped it to pretty much nothing, but he was so in tuned to the field and flows of reiatsu that he could still detect the three distinct signatures as they clashed. The fact he was focusing so deeply on it was also a contributing factor.

It was taking damn near every ounce of his will power to remain where he was, curled up around the two cubs in the Alpha Pairs' nest. Almost every fibre of his being was screaming at him to take Hijastro and flee before H'tsu could kill her as he had promised he would should Ichigo ever find out what had been going on. The other fibres held him in place as per the Pack Alpha Pairs' orders. He was not going to risk angering more than one powerful creature at a time and running would just make things infinitely worse should any party catch up to him. Besides, he couldn't bring himself to abandon Cachorro and he sure as hell was not foolish enough to attempt to run away with the cub. Forget H'tsu, the things Grimmjow would do to him if he were to kidnap the cub didn't bear thinking about.

There was one thing he desperately wanted though, and that was a shower. The cubs were awake now and they had no qualms playing in the water. He didn't think he would get into trouble if he moved them to the bathroom to clean up. The bathroom was also both closer to the exit and on the other side of the portal leading downstairs should H'tsu somehow manage to escape and he needed to make a run for it.

Decision made, he gathered the two oblivious cubs up and moved back to the bathroom. Both cubs let out squeals of delight as they raced towards their pool and its plethora of toys the moment he set them down, splashing into the water without a moments hesitation. Szayel kept both eyes on them as he finally managed to make it to a shower and clean the blood and cum off of his body and rinse the foul taste of it out of his mouth.

"This is a strange place to be at this time of night. Shouldn't they be sleeping and where the hell are Grimmjow and Ichigo?" Yylfordt questioned as he entered the bathroom.

Szayel nearly jumped out of skin as his older brother's voice reached his ears. He had been so intent on the cubs and the battling reiatsu downstairs he had failed to notice the other Arrancar approaching.

"They are downstairs," Szayel answered as he forced his racing heart to calm down and adopt an air of confidence, even if confidence was the very last thing he was feeling right now. "Why?" he questioned.

"The eggs moving around a lot. Tesra is pretty sure it's hatching," Yylfordt answered, and no amount of forced posturing could disguise the glee lacing his voice and the joy practically radiating from the Arrnacar's body.

Even Szayel felt a race of excitement at the news, his fear for the situation he had found himself in all but abated. Down below he felt H'tsu's reiatsu finally disappear. As much as he wanted to sent Yylfordt down to let the Alpha pair know what was going on, it was his cub that was hatching and he deserved to be there.

"Take Hijastro and Cachorro back to the den with you, I'll go let Grimmjow and Ichigo know," he ordered.

Both cubs were soaked, but it honestly took longer to capture them and get them out of the little pool than it did to get them relatively dry and herded out of the bathroom. Forcing himself to stand up straight and not act like the terrified mouse H'tsu had turned him into, Szayel headed for the underground training room to let the last two members of the pack know that the last cub was hatching.

(POV)

The cubs were sitting next to Yylfordt when the rest of the party arrived, watching with avid curiosity as the egg vigorously rocked back and forth with a large number of cracks already in the shell. Tesra was biting his lip nervously and rocking back and forth in agitation while Yylfodt watched with a wide grin of anticipation on his face. Nearby were several bottles with the various formulas they had tried to get the cubs to consume but had failed. Both scientists had hope that, just because Cachorro and Hijastro had been uninterested, this cub might not be. After all, unlike the two current cubs, this one had 'herbivore' roots instead of carnivore and just might be interested. Szayel could only pray so

Everyone watched with baited breath as the last cub finally broke free of its shell, letting out a bellow and shaking the fragmented shell pieces from its thick, shaggy, dark brown fur. Looking about, the newest cub trotted unsteadily over to Tesra, lowing in hunger and nestling against its 'mother.'

Taking the first bottle, Tesra tried to offer it to his child as everyone watched and waited with baited breath. The youngest member of their pack sniffed it apprehensively before it began to feed contently. Everyone let out a sigh of relief, although none were nearly as loud as Szayel's since it was clear he would, thankfully, not need to feed this child as well.

"Boy or girl?" Grimmjow questioned as Yylfordt joined his mate and child.

"Boy," Yylfordt answered as he lifted the tail, that was more warthog than cow, to check. "Ternero," the pleased Alpha greeted his son.

Ternero looked very much like a very small calf, complete with split hooves and shaggy, dark brown fur reminiscent of his 'mother.' He had a pale blond mane, tail tuff, and feathers on all four hooves in reflection of his sire. He had no horns yet, those would probably grow in later if at all. His face was not quite as wide as a typical cows, appearing almost more horse like.

Once Ternero had fed he turned his attention to the other two cubs, staring at them as they stared back. Hijastro was the first to approach, sharing blood helped the two recognize each other that much easier. After a moment Cachorro joined them and the three took the time to sniff each other and test each other out.

Introductions complete and pack accepted, the three instantly ran off to play, ignoring the adults completely as they pounced and wrestled with each other.

"Good work," Yylfordt complimented Tesra and nuzzled his mate's neck in pleasure.

"Hmm," Tesra accepted the praise with a soft smile as everyone watched the cubs play.

It didn't take long for the two eldest to race out of the little side den, leading their newest friend to the large Jungle Gym. Both older cubs at least kept to the lower levels of bridges and solid paths instead of climbing up too high where claws or hands were mandatory to keep up.

"Well they always stay like this, or will they eventually change into something more humanoid?" Ichigo questioned as they watched the cubs play.

"Theoretically, when they are older and more powerful they should be able to seal their powers away into a Zanpakuto. Since these are the first Arrancar cubs, we can truly only speculate," Szayel answered.

"Does it mater either way?" Grimmjow questioned perhaps a tad sharply.

"No, of course not," Ichigo was quick to assure him.

It was late at night and it didn't take long for the cubs to tucker out. Their respective 'mothers' gathered them up with the exception of Cachorro, who was gathered up by Ichigo, before returning to their nests. Now that all of the excitement was dying down, Ichigo noticed that Szayel was once more getting very nervous and was holding Hijastro rather tightly, not enough to hurt her or wake her up, but it was close.

He wanted to give the Natural Beta some form of reassurance that H'tsu wouldn't bother him again, but he doubted there was anything he could say that would help. After all, he had been clueless that anything had been going on in the first place. He wanted to offer Szayel the chance to den with them this evening, but he doubted that his mate would be pleased with such an offer. It was rather amusing how jealous Grimmjow could get at times. There was also no guarantee bedding with them would let Szayel relax at all, after all it would put him and his cub that much closer to H'tsu should the bastard somehow manage to materialize and live out his threat.

"_**I would never kill my own cub,**__**"**_H'tsu sniffed angrily in his mind. _**"**__**That was just a threat to keep my pet in line,**__**"**_ he added.

"_And if he had disobeyed you?__"_ Ichigo questioned sharply.

"_**Pft, I trained him too well. He holds no secrets from me,**__**"**_ H'tsu snorted.

Ichigo was the first to arrive at their nest, settling Cachorro down and looking on in pleasure as his son quickly curled up and drifted off to sleep after giving a content yawn. He settled himself into bed and looked up for his mate, wondering where the hell Grimmjow had gotten to. The former Espada had been right behind him a moment ago.

(POV)

Grimmjow watched as Szayel attempted to curl up around Hijastro and go back to sleep, never mind it was six in the morning. It had been a very long night. Hijastro was quick to let out a content meowling yawn before curling up and going to sleep. Szayel, on the other hand, was practically vibrating and radiating so much stress it was a wonder one could not actually physically see the aura.

Yes they had beaten H'tsu into a bloody pulp. Yes he was sure that the hollow part of his Alpha's soul had learned his lesson and would never dare to touch the Natural Born Beta again without Ichigo's permission. But despite that even he had to admit that H'tsu's promise meant nothing to him. Hollows were generally not trustworthy creatures.

"Oi, Sazyel," Grimmjow called.

The pink haired Arrancar jumped a bit at being addressed and turned to look over at him confused.

"You want to bed down with us tonight?" he questioned as nonchalantly as he could, while silently cursing Kuorsaki out for turning him into a bloody Mother Hen.

He'd had a pack once before and he had never felt this defensive of any of them back than. Granted, back than they had all still been an Adjucus and had yet to gain part of a Shinigami's soul thanks to Aizen's little experiments. There had also been no cubs present.

Now, he had all these emotions, most of them courtesy of Ichigo and Cachorro. He hated them as much as he loved them as they forced him to do shit like this.

"I…" Szayel stammered shocked before giving his head a shake. "I think I would like that, thank you," he managed to get out.

The look of surprise on Ichigo's face when the three of them entered the small den was quickly overshadowed by a look of pleasure that promised a rather wonderful reward later. A part of him cursed himself for the feeling of pride he felt for pleasing his Alpha while another part felt disgust that he had become so trained as to _want_ to please Ichigo so he could get to experience the powerful Hybrid dominate and pleasure him. Yes, the teen had certainly corrupted him.

Hell, he hadn't had a good old random outraging rampage in ages. It was almost like all the anger he had once held had simply melted away without him noticing. Looking down at his family, he was fairly positive he knew where it had disappeared to.

Szayel bedded down on the edge of their nest and Cachorro woke up long enough to nestle up next to his sister. The two cubs settled down quickly and Szayel curled up protectively around them. He followed them into slumber before Grimmjow even had a chance to join Ichigo in their nest. His fellow Arrancar had suffered a lot in the last few hours so it wasn't really surprising Szayel was quickly asleep.

"You know," Ichigo spoke up, "those three seem to be okay and I do have to get up in an hour to go to school. I don't really see the point in getting an hour's sleep and we never did finish our bath," the teen smirked up at him.

Grimmjow let a smirk cross his face at his Alpha's rather suggest hint. He could definitely go for a romp in the bath. There were definite perks to keeping the Natural Beta around.

"I could go for a soak," he agreed quickly. Sexual desires aside, his muscles were a little sore from his battle with H'tsu, even though it had been fairly one sided.

Ichigo crawled out of the bed and the two of them headed to the bathroom. There was no reason to go back to the underground training room and both of them did want to keep tabs on the rest of the pack. Unfortunately, being in the training room dampened their capabilities to sense anything outside of it and right now neither one of them wanted anyone in their pack out of sensing range.

(Time)

Fifteen minutes later found them both naked in the hot tub. Their tongues clashed in battle as hands trailed over their partners body, nails raking slightly against skin and leaving behind trails of raised flesh. Reiatsu coiled around them, Ichigo's loud and powerful and his own rising to join it. It was a pleasant surprise to feel Ichigo's reiatsu coil around his own instead of dominating it as a reminder who was the more powerful, as was typical of most Alpha-Beta relationships. It was a rare that a pair were held in equal regard, after all Hueco Mundo was very much an eat or be eaten world. The strong did to the weak what they will. And yet….

And yet that old sentiment didn't seem to mean as much to him anymore. He shouldn't have cared what happened to Szayel. He should be trying to force Ichigo beneath him, granted Cachorro wasn't old enough yet for the mating to have ended yet so his instincts were still being affected. Briefly he wondered if his feelings towards the Natural Beta would change once the mating was over. Any further thoughts were suddenly cut off with a gasp, effectively causing him to lose the tongue war, when Ichigo's finger traced his entrance before delving in.

He let out a growl and moved away from the sudden, unexpected intrusion, resulting in his hard shaft rubbing against the teen's. The result sent a shudder of pleasure through his body. A stronger shudder rippled through him as that searching finger found that little bud of pleasure inside of him and gave it a firm stroke. Despite himself, he let out a groan of pleasure and found himself grinding against Ichigo as his Alpha continued to lavish pleasure upon him.

"Fuck, Kurosaki," he hissed.

Ichigo's hand wrapped around his length and stroked it in tune to the rubbing of that finger against his prostate. Teeth grazed his throat and another powerful shiver raced over his body. Despite himself, he arched his back and moved into the hand stroking him while baring his neck for those teeth. Curse the boy, he certainly knew how to please him and after each time they rutted the brat was raising the bar higher for him to meet when their roles finally reversed.

For now though, he was able to at least fight back. The mating was done, Cachorro was hatched, and the Alpha/Beta relationship was slowly fading as far as his Instincts were concerned. And yet… there was definitely still a relationship there, one he had no plans on severing anytime soon. It was rare a mate of this potential was discovered and he had no plans on giving Ichigo up.

Fight back he did, his own hands finding Ichigo's length and returning the attention. He didn't want this wonderful rutting to end though so he didn't attempt to assault the teen anymore than that, even though he truly wanted to repay Ichigo torment for torment. Even though HIS instincts were coming out of the Mating, it seemed Ichigo's hadn't just yet. There was no point in picking an Alpha fight right now when his entire body was being assaulted with such pleasure, not to mention those teeth still latched onto his throat. It would be best to wait for Cachorro to be weaned before delving into the next round, after all they didn't want to stress Szayel's nursing ability too far.

Weakened as he was, and given what he was, the Scientist was pretty much tied to their pack for eternity, or until a powerful enough Hollow rose up out of the sand that was actually capable of overpowering Szayel, should he ever regain his strength and dare to leave the safety of their pack. Full power was the only way Szayel would ever even consider leaving the sheltering wing they had offered him.

But alas, he was thinking far too much when he should be focusing on the hand wrapped around his length, stroking it ever so firmly while a callused thumb ran over the sensitive tip. The fingers deep inside of him stroked the hidden bundle of nerves Ichigo could find regardless of position and he wondered when the teen had added the other two digits. The teeth on his throat sent a shiver of delightful fear through his body as they grazed over his jugular and nipped at his neck. He let out a loud groan of pleasure as a particularly strong stoke over his bindle of nerves sent his legs trembling and he almost lost it right there.

He felt, more than saw, the smirk that touched Ichigo's lips and the fingers inside of him were removed, leaving him feeling suddenly empty. Ichigo released his length and instead wrapped his arms around Grimmjow's legs, lifting him up a bit and adjusting their position. Grimmjow gave up the grasp he had on Ichigo's length, but not without a bit of a fight. It took those teeth clamping down warningly on his throat to get him to give up his hold, thus letting the teen enter him. As a form of punishment for his rebellion, Ichigo deliberately missed his sweet spot as the teen drove into him.

Grimmjow let out a hiss at the sting of being penetrated, a sting that wasn't mitigated with pleasure this time. The water helped a little, but not by much. Ichigo didn't give him time to adjust this time, but rather started to move right away, letting out little possessive growls with each forward thrust. The teen wasn't upset enough to miss the pleasure spot inside of him, but he did only brush lightly against it.

"Fuck you, Kurosaki," he snarled as he tried to adjust his hips so that the teen would hit him more dead on.

Ichigo let out a chuckle before finally adjusting his angle so he was hitting his partner dead on. Grimmjow's next curse turned into a gasp of pleasure, which was quickly followed by a string of curses.

"I hope you curb that language around the cubs," Ichigo commented, and to Grimmjow's annoyance he didn't even sound winded despite the fact the teen was now all but pounding into his body.

Grimmjow didn't bother to answer, and not because his answer was lost in another grasp of pleasure as the thick shaft buried inside of him hit him dead on, honest. Ichigo's lips sought his, and once more they indulged themselves in a tongue war. Hands roamed all over each others bodies, nails biting in a bit deeper and leaving beads of blood, but neither one of them seemed to mind the pain. The pace picked up and Ichigo freed up one hand to wrap around Grimmjow's own length, stroking it firmly and assaulting the tip with his thumb.

The tongue war ended when they both let out moans of pleasure. Ichigo's mouth latched once more onto his throat as the teen picked up the pace once more so that the water in the tub was splashing wildly about and pooling on the floor outside of the large tub. It was a good thing the bathroom had a drain built into the floor, although more often than not it was the cubs who were the culprits, not the adults. The sound of splashing, grunting, and gasps filled the large bathroom.

There was a moment of silence as everything suddenly went still, both of them frozen with Grimmjow's head thrown back and mouth open in soundless pleasure while Ichigo was buried to the hilt inside his mate with his teeth latched onto the bared throat, a small trail of blood running down the pale neck presented to him. Then the moment ended.

Ichigo give three, sharp thrust into his mate and Grimmjow's open mouth ceased to remain silent as a scream of pleasure was pulled from his lips and white ribbons stained the water they were in. Two more brought the teen over the edge and Ichigo held Grimmjow's hips to him so tightly that his nails cut into the flesh and left ten, crimson moons marring the skin. His teeth clamped on sharply to the neck presented to him and he drank the small trickle of his mate's delicious blood.

The only movement now was the soft trembling of Ichigo's shaft as it pumped his release into his mate and the small shudders of his body that accompanied the spurts. When the last spurt had been milked from him they both remained still once more as they came off of their high.

Ichigo was the first to move, unlatching his teeth from Grimmjow's throat and licking at the bleeding marks he left behind while removing his now soft shaft from his mates body. Grimmjow just panted and let Ichigo caress his body with tongue and fingers.

It had been a good day indeed. H'tsu's ass was kicked, a cub was born, and his mate had just finished giving him some rather mind blowing sex. Yep, life didn't get much better than this.

* * *

><p>This chapter took longer to get out than it should have, but I am afraid I didn't have much time to write. Thank you all so much for your wonderful feedback, and I am off to feed the baby. He's a ravenous monster I tell you<p> 


	39. Cubs Abound

Cubs Abound

Three cubs were a handful, but at least both Tesra and Szayel were regaining their strength, the former more than the later. Tesra's cub consumed an outside source of food while Szayel was still using a fair amount of his energy to feed two cubs, but at least his energy was no longer being sapped by an abusive Alpha. H'tsu hadn't dared show his face since the Alpha Pair's discipline. The hollow part of his soul had even been quieter in his mind since that day.

Cachorro made a squeak and Ichigo turned his attention towards the three cubs and two aunts that were wrestling on the mats in front of the large jungle gym. A small smile touched his lips as he watched Cachorro squirm out from under Karin before tumbling into Yuzu to rescue his sister.

Ichigo had been a little concerned over his sisters safety since the cubs were still Hollows and, despite their small and cute bodies, much stronger than they appeared and thus dangerous. So far though it seemed like all three cubs were mindful of their strength and no one had gotten hurt yet. Cachorro and Hijastro had accepted Ternero without any issues, which was a relief. There had been a potential predator/prey issue, but so far Cachorro showed no signs of wanting to eat Ternero.

Ichigo checked the time on the large clock behind him. It was almost 4 in the afternoon, meaning his father would by shutting up the clinic soon and coming over to assist in the cubs check ups. Kisuke occasionally came as well but Tesra, Yylfordt and all three cubs were weary of the ex-taichou and everyone agreed it was best to keep the visits, and stress, down to a minimum. Szayel and Isshin were more than capable of conducting the examinations.

Right now all four Arrnacar were in the kitchen eating the dinner Grimmjow and Yylfordt had returned with. While Ichigo understood and accepted his mates need to cannibalize, he tended to try to avoid witnessing it as much as possible. Eating raw meat that had, arguably, been a sentient creature just gave him the shivers.

"Ichi-nii, have you figured out your course load for your first semester yet?" Yuzu asked as his sister joined him on the couch, Hijastro cradled in her arms.

"Yes, one schedule for each option," he answered with a soft smile.

Yuzu sat down beside him and grabbed the brush from the side table. Hijastro's quiet purring erupted loudly as Yuzu put the brush to work. Vanity was something the only female cub had clearly picked up from Szayel.

"So, what are you going to do when you finish?" Yuzu questioned curiously, "because I can't picture you working with otousan."

"No," Ichigo easily agreed with his sister. "Getting my doctorate will take a few years at least."

With the help of his personal, highly intelligent (although he would never tell Szayel that as the Arrancar was still known for bouts of self proclamation over his superior intellect) tutor he had raised his Biology, Chemistry, and Math scores to the top of his grade. A good number of scholarships had fallen into his lap and even a few invitations to various Universities. His Language and computer skills, on the other hand, were good, but nothing breathtaking.

"So you will be here for a while at least," Yuzu smiled happily. "And so will Cachorro, right?" she asked.

"As far as I know, yeah," he assured her.

"And Hijastro?" she asked hesitantly

"Not going anywhere anytime soon as far as I know," he assured her.

Yuzu had really taken to the little girl. Hijastro didn't mind it in the least when Yuzu put ribbons and bows on her. Her wings prevented his sister from being able to put much in the way of clothing on her, but lace and ribboned, elastic bands around her paws were accepted and she even liked the little handmade kitty shoes. Ichigo had a sneaking suspicion that Ishida had helped his sister with several of the little outfits (the crosses gave it away) and the Quincy was taking great delight in putting his mark on Szayel's daughter. In fact, he would not be surprised to discover an entire binder full of contemplative designs that would work around Hijastro's wings.

"Good, I like her," Yuzu announced happily as she continued to brush out Hijastro's fur, much to the cubs loudly proclaimed delight.

Hijastro was the only cub that had taken to Yuzu. Cachorro was distant and Ternero completely ignored and avoided her. On the other hand, both male cubs had taken to Karin. Cachorro had adopted his father and aunts attitude towards his Grandfather and Ternero was definitely uncomfortable around him. Only Hijastro was found of Isshin. Granted, Hijastro fell in love with pretty much anyone. All it took was three minutes with a brush and she was yours. She had been the first, and so far only, cub to have warmed up to Byakuya during subsequence visits.

Ichigo had to admit he found the visits from Soul Societies representatives rather amusing, and sometimes exasperating. All three cubs had easily accepted Jushiro. Ternero was weary of Rukia and Renji but would let them approach. Only Hijastro let Byakuya near her, Ternero avoided him and Cachorro had made it a game to try and bite the noble whenever he could. The most annoying part was that Grimmjow encouraged the behaviour while Ichigo was trying to stop it. They'd had a few arguments over it already.

"Oi, you brats behaving?" Grimmjow demanded as he led the Arrancar members of their pack into the large playroom.

All three cubs let out loud noises of pleasure. Ternero and Cachorro raced towards their respective parents while Hijastro remained in Yuzu's lap, her purrs now interspaced with the odd meows directed towards her 'mother.'

"_What do Hollows call their __'__mother__'__ anyway?__"_ Ichigo wondered curiously.

He knew that as Adjucus Hollows were basically hermaphrodites. Somehow he doubted that any 'male personality' Beta's would want to be called Mother. Granted, the cubs didn't exactly speak so he supposed the issue never actually came up.

Cachorro leaped into Grimmjow's arms, meowing continuously and rubbing up against him. Ternero pranced between his own parents legs. Hijastro was content to remain in Yuzu's lap and let Szayel walk up to her.

Szayel and Tesra were the only two that didn't make Yuzu feel overly uncomfortable. In fact, Yuzu and Tesra seemed to get along well, which was a great relief to Ichigo. He was afraid his kind hearted sister was going to be ostracized from the group.

"Have you picked a school yet?" Szayel asked as he sat down next to Yuzu, Hijastro crawling to sit between the two of them for maximum attention hording.

"I've narrowed it down to two of them," he admitted, pulling forward the two brochure packages, complete with letters of introduction and pre admission. "KKU has more up to date facilities, but it's two hours away and I have heard their Biology teacher isn't the best, which is one of my majors. SKU is closer, only an hour away, and has the best Biology teacher in the area, but they don't offer a Genetics course," he sighed in frustration.

"I thought that's like, a third year course though," Karin pointed out as she sat down on Yuzu's other side.

"It is," he agreed.

"So can't you just take it latter, or even by correspondence?"

"I could," he agreed reluctantly.

"I wouldn't worry about a bad teacher, Ichi-nii, you got a great one right here," Yuzu pointed out with a soft blush.

"You charm me, my dear," Szayel smirked at her. "Why would you not desire to go with the facility that has the superior equipment?" he questioned confused.

"The two hour drive," Ichigo answered honestly. "Students, especially University students, don't have a lot of free time, and I need to add being a father to my list as well." Ichigo pointed out. "Classes alone are about seven hours a day, plus four hours for travel, not to mention all the homework and studying, easily another four hours a day right there. Eight hours for sleep and that's 23 hours out of a 24 hour day."

"Why not just use Shunpo?" Yylfordt questioned with snort.

"How would my body catch up? It's not like the average person can see spirits," he pointed out dryly. "Attendance is sort of mandatory and if the teacher can't see me it doesn't count."

"How much would being able to use Shunpo cut down on your travel time?" Szayel asked curiously.

"It would take maybe 10 minutes instead of an hour. Why?" Ichigo questioned.

Szayel had a sudden light in his eyes and one could almost see the calculations and thoughts whirling about.

"You can interact with the physical world normally in your Shinigami form, right? It's just a matter of visibility isn't it?" Szayel questioned, leaning forward eagerly.

"I suppose so, yeah," Ichigo agreed.

"So what if there was a way for the average person to see you in your spirit form? Something you could put on and off so people wouldn't see you traveling?" Szayel questioned excitedly.

It was the first time in months Ichigo had seen that measure of light in Szayels eyes. In fact, he was fairly positive the last time he had seen Szayel so excited had been when he was locked in a test tube in the scientist's lab. It was a true sign Szayel was beginning to recover from his ordeal. Ichigo couldn't bring himself to deny Szayel the chance to work on such a simple project. Besides, if it worked it would help his Shinigami friends out a considerable amount. A gigai, while practical, was also dangerous in that it took time to leave the body.

"Well, if you think that you can get something like that designed, than yeah, I could go to KKU. I might even be able to come home for lunch," he chuckled.

"Or other things," Grimmjow smirked at him.

"Oi, not in front of the girls," Ichigo protested.

"They going to learn about shit like this sooner or later," the former Espada shrugged.

"I would sooner later."

"Chill, Ichi-nii, we aren't seven anymore," Karin rolled her eyes at him. "And the cubs are too young to understand what we are talking about anyway."

"Amuse me," he insisted. "Besides, think about how Goatface would react to finding out you two were listening to such talk."

Most of the room shivered.

"Your Sire is very…." Yylfordt paused, thinking about the term he wanted.

"Loud?" Tesra suggested.

"eccentric," Yylfordt settled on.

"A cover to fool the easily fooled," Szayel waved a hand. "His diploma's and a successful clinic speak of a far more sharp mind, one he hides. He is far too competent in the lab to be the idiot he pretends to be."

"You are just saying that because he saved your ass," Yylfordt snorted.

"He does it to try and keep everyone happy, especially since mom died," Karin defended. "He just takes it overboard far too frequently," she added.

The room fell into uncomfortable silence for several minutes. Almost everyone jumped when the doorbell went off. Protective instincts flared and the cubs climbed fully into their respective 'mothers' laps while Ichigo got up to answer the door and Yylfordt hovered near the only entrance into the large room.

"It never ceases to amaze me how you all do that," Karin shook her head amused. "Like watching some sort of documentary on wolves, I swear."

"Hueco Mundo is far more dangerous than any woodland or tundra you are acquainted with," Szayel assured her with just a tint of nervousness in his voice. "A moment of inattentiveness can lead to gruesome death.

Whoever was at the door was not Isshin or any of their human friends, they would have just walked in. The downside to living in a building that hid reiatsu was that you couldn't tell who was at the door just like people outside could not feel anyone inside. Not that it made too much of a difference on account that Ichigo still sucked at recognizing a lot of different people.

A glance at the monitor by the door indicated their guests consisted of Jushiro and Nemu. Jushiro was more than welcomed, but Ichigo was not so sure about permitting Kurotsuchi's daughter into the den. It would throw Szayel into a fit and Grimmjow might just attack first and ask questions later when he picked up her scent and realized she was related to the bastard that had tried to harm their son. Taking a breath to steady himself, he opened the door.

"Ukitake-taichou, what brings you by?" Ichigo questioned politely. "I wasn't expecting your visit until tomorrow at the earliest."

"Sorry for dropping by like this Ichigo, but I was speaking to Isshin and Kisuke to pick up the reports for the 12th that Szayel had agreed to share and he said that they were running some tests today on the cubs and that we would be welcomed to come watch."

Ichigo frowned in displeasure. It was not Kisuke or Isshin's place to invite anyone to his den, especially anyone related to the 12th. Jushiro must have noticed his growing anger, for he quickly apologized for their intrusion again.

"I don't mind you Visiting, but you have just announced our location to the same division that nearly beat Szayel to death and tried to abduct my son. If you think I am unhappy about her being here, my Mate is going to be beyond furious and Szayel will either be just as furious, or have another regression attack. You may come in, but she is not welcomed," he said firmly, crossing his arms.

It wasn't that he had anything personally against Nemu, if anything he actually felt sorry for the mistreated woman. What he was upset about was what she represented. And he would definitely be having words to his father and Kisuke about inviting people into HIS den. It was not their place to do so. Shinji had given him the old warehouse to live in, not them. And while he appreciated all the work Kisuke had done to the place, it was still not his right to act as if he owned the place when he didn't.

Speaking of the devil, Kisuke came around the corner at just that moment, calling out a joyful greeting. Ichigo turned his glare to the shop keeper. Kisuke quickly picked up on the hostility and out came that annoying fan. Knowing that what ever words were going to come out of his mouth towards the ex-taichou would not be pleasant, he kept his attention on the current one instead. It wasn't really Jushiro's fault for brining Nemu along when they had been invited by Ichigo's own father.

"As I said, you are welcome to come inside, but she will have to wait elsewhere, no offence Nemu," he gave a nod towards the silent woman. She hadn't been there during the altercation and it wouldn't be fair to blame her for her father's orders and ideals.

"There is none taken, Kurosaki-san," Nemu bowed. "I will return to my division with the reports we have gathered. Good Day, Ukitaki-taichou, Kurosaki-san." She said politely, completely ignored Kisuke before turned about and walking away from the group.

Isshin, carrying his house call medical kit, passed Nemu and frowned in confusion before his eyes lit up with understanding and he sent his son a sheepish and apologetic smile.

"I didn't even think about that," his father admitted embarrassed as he joined them at the door.

There were a lot of scathing remarks Ichigo could have made to that statement, but bit his tongue instead. It was rare his father actually acted mature and there was no point in snapping at him over an honest mistake. Besides, it was best to encourage his father's more serious side over that of the goofy one he often adopted. He sometimes wondered who was the better father figure for the twins, himself or their actual father.

"Come on in," he finally invited everyone inside.

The all paused at the door and even Ichigo could feel the rush of probing reiatsu as the Arrancar under his care tested and scouted for those who had dared to disturb their den. Shoes were taken off and small talk was exchanged, mostly about how Rukia was doing, to give the others time to adjust to the intruders presence. By the time Ichigo escorted their guest to the main room everyone was once more relaxed.

The three cubs gave out cries of delight and swarmed Jushiro, prancing about his legs and making loud begging noises. Cachorro did pause in his begging long enough to hiss at Kisuke before going back to demanding attention from the white haired Shinigami.

Ichigo sighed and joined his mate on the couch. He knew Jushiro was loaded with new toys for the cubs and he supposed he should be happy that they were too young, and currently uninterested, in candy. Toshiro had groused about being burdened with receiving such treats from Jushiro.

"Hold on now and let me go sit down. I am not as young as you all are," Jushiro smiled at them, having an interesting time keeping his balance with the equivalent of a domesticated goat and two bulky Savannahs (one with an armoured shell!) rubbing against his legs begging for attention.

He finally got to a chair and was instantly swarmed, heads butting against him and paws pawing at his uniform. He laughed and pushed them away before finally getting them all calmed down enough he could reach into his pockets to get the items he had brought with him.

Kisuke and Isshin slipped out of the room and headed towards the lab to get everything ready for the cubs examination. Szayel hesitated, not wanting to leave his own cub unattended, but Ichigo gave him a shooing motion and after a minute Szayel joined the other two men in the lab.

He didn't know too much about Szayel's personality before meeting him, but he got the impression that it was far different from what he was use to. According to Ishida the old Szayel would have had to have been pried out of his lab, not gently shoed into it, or at least gently shoed while leaving the cubs behind.

Jushiro started pulling the toys out, brining Ichigo's attention back to the three cubs. Several bright balls were pulled out and he gave them a small toss, Cachorro instantly chased after them with Ternero trotting behind him. Hijastro made a few motions as if wanting to go as well, but she waited impatiently for more surprises. Ribbons, feathers and strips of fabric came out next. Hijastro snatched those up quickly and raced back to Yuzu, tripping a few times over the trailing pieces but otherwise purring loudly in content.

"You spoil them too much," Karin accused.

"You can never spoil children too much," Yuzu declared, sorting through the stock pile of crafting supplies with Hijastro. "When Ishida-san comes by we will really put this stuff to task," she assured the cub.

Hijastro let out a meow of agreement before suddenly darting from the couch and swatting one of the balls towards her brother. Cachorro darted around quickly and captured it before launching it at Ternero. Ternero had been paying attention to a different ball and let out a bellow of annoyance as Cachorro's ball hit the other cub's side. In retribution, a rear kick sent it back, hitting Cachorro in the rump. That prompted a game of dodge ball that quickly involved everyone.

Karin and Yuzu let out laughs of delight and joined the cubs. This made five players, thus making the teams uneven. It was Tesra who joined the game to make it an even three on three; and to move the game further from the spectators so that they were not caught by stray flying balls, or at least not caught often.

At first Ichigo was concerned about his sisters playing with an Arrancar, but it was quickly made clear that Tesra was well aware of his own strength and no balls were tossed with any strength that could harm either cubs or humans.

"The lab's ready," Isshin announced happily as he entered the room.

The cubs froze, looked Isshin's way, and than bolted to the far corners of the giant jungle gym.

"Nice work idiot," Ichigo scowled at his father.

"Oops," Isshin smiled sheepishly.

Dodge ball had turned into keep away. Ternero was the easiest to capture as he was limited in his escape routes. Yylfordt held tightly onto his squirming son while Tesra tried to sooth him, assuring the cub that everything was going to be just fine. Hijastro was the next captured, Yuzu and Jushiro managing to coax the cub into going. Of the three she was the least concerned about test, taking them impatiently without the squirming. Cachorro, on the other hand….

"You guys go ahead, we'll join you in a minute," Ichigo sighed as his son darted through the gaps in a rope net intended for climbing. "I blame you for this you know," he scowled at his mate.

"He is clearly a strong and clever cub, I'll happily take credit for that," Grimmjow smirked at him.

"Yeah, too cleaver." His scowl deepened. "Cachorro, get over here," Ichigo ordered.

His command was met with a hiss.

"If you don't get over here right now there will be no play time after dinner," he threatened.

Cachorro's ears dropped at he shot a pleading look towards Grimmjow.

"I am on your side. I don't see how these test are important,"

Ichigo opened his mouth to give his mate a scathing remark, but didn't get the chance to as Grimmjow finished his sentence.

"but if Ichigo thinks they are, than they probably are. Now get over here and take the tests like the brave cub I know you are and not a girly wuss." Grimmjow taunted.

Cachorro let out a huff of defeat before finally letting Grimmjow capture him.

"He definitely gets that from you," Ichigo noted amused.

"Get's what?" Grimmjow questioned confused.

"The abject terror of a harmless needle."

"Fuck you Kurosaki," Grimmjow spat.

"I am fairly positive it is always the other way around," he couldn't help but to point out with a grin, letting the foul language in front of their son slide.

Grimmjow sent him a deadly glare, but curbed his temper for now. They made it into the lab where Hijastro was sitting calmly on the table while Szayel took her measurements and called out the findings to Isshin, who recorded the data in Hijastro's chart. The cubs were growing at a good rate, all of them gaining weight and clearly active. It was hard to figure out how mentally intelligence the cubs were since they were incapable of any form of speech any of them understood. Current guess was around a two year old. It was clear they understood basic commands and what was going on around them. They knew colours since if you told them to get the blue ball they would. Even Ternero. There wasn't a notable climb in intelligence yet, but again it was hard to measure.

"You are doing an excellent job," Szayel praised his daughter.

The easy stuff done, the next step actually involved the equipment. Her heart rate was recorded, her temperature taken, her ears examined, her eyes checked. Movement ranges on all limbs were explored and recorded. Her trust in her 'mother' was clearly absolute.

"Okay love, just a pinch." Szayel assured her as he held up the needle.

Hijastro remained still as the needle was inserted into her body and four vials of blood were drawn. The other two cubs shivered in fright, she just yawned. X-rays were taken of her mouth to check tooth development and whether or not any baby teeth or wisdom teeth might be present and an ultrasound done to make sure her organs were still all functioning.

There were three cubs so while Isshin ran the ultrasound Cachorro and Ternero had their turns on the table. Szayel and Kisuke took a cub each and started all over again. Szayel had to do Cachorro's, not only because he had been the scientist to start the cub's chart in the first place, but because Cachorro would try to bite Kisuke every chance he got and refused to co-operate. Ichigo recorded his son's information as Szayel read them out while Tesra recorded his own son's.

Things were going well, the cubs actually enjoyed this part as they were informed just how much bigger they were, until the needles came out. Both cubs became petrified, and they were not the only ones. Ichigo kept an eye on his mate even as he held firmly onto his struggling son, making soothing noises.

"Hold up, Szayel I got an idea," Ichigo ordered as Cachorro bucked in his arms, making it impossible to get the needle close. "Cachorro, It's okay," he soothed his son. "Shh, shh, it's okay. Nothing bad is going to happen. See, watch," Ichigo held his arm out towards Szayel.

Szayel was no fool, he caught on quickly and took Ichigo's arm in his, searching for a good vein before sliding the needle in.

"See, I am still alright. Just a little pinch and that's all. It won't hurt you," the teen soothed his son.

Cachorro, and Ternero from his own table, watched in fascination as the vial filled up with his Sire's blood. Once the vial was filled Szayel hesitated. Ichigo looked at the Natural Beta and noted the warring between curiosity and fear, eyes flickering between the now filled vial and the rack holding several more empty ones. Even Kisuke was eyeing the vial like a piece of candy.

"Go for it," he sighed.

Szayel looked up at him in clear shock, but also with a large amount of excitement.

"Before I change my mind," he prompted.

Three more vials were filled before the needle was removed from his arm.

"See," he smiled at his son. "If I can do it you can too," he encouraged, completely ignoring the shiver Grimmjow had given off as the needle was removed from his arm.

Cachorro held still this time as the needle was inserted and his blood was drawn.

"Good boy," Ichigo praised happily, earning a happy meow from Cachorro.

The equipment made the cubs nervous, but they at least held still for the exams. It was amusing to watch Szayel squirm as he was forced to sit still to feed Cachorro and Hijastro after the tests were done when all he desperately wanted to do was look at the data and enter it into the system.

Jushiro left with Kisuke once the tests were completed and Isshin set about cleaning up the lab.

"Will you sit still already, your giving me a migraine," Grimmjow growled in annoyance.

Szayel flinched, apologized, and forced himself to hold still so the cubs could feed more easily. Tesra and Yylfordt had retreated to their own den, the visit had made them rather uncomfortable, more so when they had learned that the 12th division now knew where they were located. Neither one had good memories of that group.

"Once they're done I'll take the cubs for their bath," Karin offered.

The buzzer rang, two shorts and two longs, meaning it was one of Ichigo's human friends. A moment later Ishida's reiatsu entered the premises and hovered by the door for a few minutes while everyone scanned and registered his presence. Ichigo had forgotten his friend was coming over.

The cubs finally finished eating and Szayel all but ran back to his lab, passing Ishida on the way. They ignored each other, although this time Ichigo had a feeling it had more to do with Szayel's desire to look at the new notes than it did with their hostile past.

"Alright brats, lets go take that bath," Karin called the cubs.

Cries of delight met her statement and the two cubs eagerly followed her out of the room.

"I am coming too," Yuzu called, joining the procession to the bathroom.

"What about you?" Ichigo questioned his mate.

"You look like your about to talk more about that school shit. I'll go make sure the cubs don't drown the girls."

"Alright," Ichigo agreed.

Ishida set his bag down next to the table and claimed a spot for himself.

"You taking up arts Ichigo?" Ishida questioned.

"Huh?"

"You got a pile of Ribbons, feathers and fabric there," Ishida pointed to Jushiro's gift for Hijastro.

"Oh, just a gift for Hijastro," Ichigo answered.

"Really," Ishida smirked, a dark gleam crossing his eyes as he studied the pile of items.

"Later," Ichigo insisted as he indicated the university pamphlets. "Which Social Arts electives were you considering?" he asked.

* * *

><p>Soooooo busy… Groan. Anyhow, thank you all so much for your reviews. Not a great chapter, more of a glimpse of daily life before a larger time skip. All of my stories are written and stored on my Lap Top. I simply copy and paste the current chapter into a new document before uploading it. No idea on the next update, no a lot of free time to write.<p>

Arielsabik101: thanks catching that. I actually knew that but totally spaced when I wrote it out. One of those DOH! moment. Too many projects on the go.

Super Yuuki: Plot is good : )

Black Storm: hopefully all is going good. I won't claim to be physic radar, so if this cheers you up on a bad day again I swear it's not because I am stalking you, honest.


	40. Diversion

Diversion

Karin could very easily be described as tomboyish. She wasn't fond of dresses or kimonos, although she would wear them if the occasion was right; such as festivals. She wasn't into dolls or cooking. Oh she can cook, but she didn't get the satisfaction from it that Yuzu did. No, she much preferred to be out and about and active. Her mind set was rather masculine, and as such she understood boys better than other members of her own sex.

Yuzu was soft and kind hearted, but that didn't mean that the preteen couldn't put a grown man into tears when she did decide to show her well hidden, inner core of firmness. Yuzu used her charming, soft personality like a weapon. She could manipulate every person in her family with an art with the exception of Ichigo, he often managed to side step her artful manipulations and now she understood why. Responsibility was a powerful shield to her skilful manipulations.

Thus both girls noted the same thing about their brother's pack. When they had first been introduced the girls had noticed that the group acted very much like the pack of wolves they had studied in school. Szayel had clearly been the submissive Omega with their brother and Grimmjow acting as the Alpha pair. Than Yylfordt and Tesra had been added and the two girls had also been incorporated into the pack. Karin and Yuzu had both noticed the shifting of ranks, although for different reasons.

Szayel, despite his weakened state, had risen in rank while Tesra now held the place as pack Omega, along side Yuzu. For some reason it was always an unmated male and female that held the rank of Omega. Tesra technically was mated, but he still took the role of a submissive Omega. Just because hollows functioned similarly to a wolf pack didn't mean there weren't differences. After that the ranks took a bit more scrutinizing and both girls felt that the middle ranks shifted a bit and hadn't quite settled yet.

One thing Karin and Yuzu both agreed with though was that, once he fully recovered, Szayel would probably rise to the top rank below the Alpha Pair, but since he was so weakened and currently focused on the cubs he held the rank just above the two Omega's. This left Karin and Yylfordt to via for the spot below the Alpha pair, and which one held that spot seemed to shift from encounter to encounter and with whoever was in the room at the time.

Oddly enough their father wasn't considered a member of the pack. While Isshin did enjoy spending time with his Grandchildren, he was still a busy Doctor that owned his own clinic so he didn't get a lot of free time.

"You look like you are doing some heavy thinking," Szayel commented sleepily from his place curled up in the main den's nest.

Karin had taken it upon herself to come over every spare afternoon she got so they could watch the cubs and let both Szayel and Tesra get some much needed rest. The days she couldn't Orihime, Tatsuki or Yuzu would. Their group effort was paying off, giving Szayel and Tesra a few hours to themselves.

Tesra usually spent that time sleeping, cleaning up the den or with Yuzu if the girl was here. Oddly enough, the pack Omega felt more comfortable around the young human girl than he did around the other Arrancar and both of them were quickly becoming friends.

Szayel frequently used that time to take a relaxing bath, clean himself up, and than catch his journals up. His once limp hair was starting to regain it lustre and his pale skin was starting to regain colour. His body, and mind, still bore many scars from his trial at H'tsu's claws, but they were slowly fading. It would take years, but Isshin had assured his worried girls that they would eventually fade away to be nothing more than very faint marking, most even disappearing completely. The other part of that free time was used to work on the device that would permit Ichigo to attend school in his soul form.

"I was just musing over how the pack dynamics seemed to have changed," she answered honestly.

"Ah, an interesting physiological study. Tell me, what have you determined about this oddly gathered pack?" he questioned curiously.

She gave him her observations, making sure that he understood it wasn't personal vanity that placed her high in the pack, but observation. Not that holding such a high rank didn't give her a small puffing out of pride, but she tried to tamper it down.

"Very observant," he agreed with her.

"It doesn't bother you that a human girl holds a higher standing?" she questioned curiously.

"Once, perhaps," he confirmed, "but you could say that the last several months have brought some rather humbling lessons and experiences."

Karin had stumbled across his first journal once when she had been helping clean up the large den. What little she had read, not to mention the large number of blood and tear stains marring the pages, had sent her running to the bathroom fighting back racking sobs and had the added bonus of given her many sleepless nights.

"Do you wish you could go hunting with the others?" she questioned.

"No," he gave her a small smile. "I never really enjoyed the hunt like most of my brethren. As I told you before, I am a different breed. I would much sooner hunt the answer to a curious question of nature than a mindless, screaming creature to eat."

Their conversation was cut short when the cubs realized Szayel was awake and came running towards them, letting out plaintiff hunger noises. Hijastro and Cachorro pawed at him, nuzzling his shirt and trying to get at his chest.

"Come here you," Karin snagged her nephew, who squirmed in her grasp and complained madly about being picked up and moved away from his meal source. He didn't complain too long though as Karin offered him a bottle full of previously pumped milk.

It had been Yuzu who had questioned why Szayel didn't just pump like most breastfeeding women did. Not to mention that they would than be able to study the actual milk used to feed the cubs instead of randomly trying to make something based on other creatures milk. Needless to say both Szayel and Kisuke had stunned, sheepish looks on their faces at the suggestion. To think a little girl came up with an answer too geniuses hadn't. Szayel had argued in his defence that it wasn't until recently that any level of hollow had access to technology and the thought of pumping milk was completely unheard of. Kisuke, on the other hand, had no defence and was ridiculed merciless for not thinking of it.

They hadn't managed to make a suitable replacement that Cachorro and Hijastro would accept yet, but at least the others could now help feed the cubs on occasion. The cubs were ravenous and Szayel could only pump so much, but at least every bottle feeding gave him another minor break. Karin was also positive that Ichigo, at least, took great delight in being more actively involved with his son's feeding. She couldn't tell about Grimmjow, but the Arrancar was definitely a growing active participant in the cubs wrestling matches.

"Is that yummy, Cachorro-kun?" Karin asked sweetly.

Cachorro didn't answer, but the vigorous way he was sucking at the bottle suggested it was good. With only one cub assaulting him now it was easier for Szayel to brush his yukuta aside so Hijastro could get to the nipple she was searching for. Ternero was crying for food too, summoning Tesra from the laundry room where he had been doing everyone's bedding with Yuzu. Ternero spotted his returning parent and abandoned them for the more reliable source of food.

"Laundry almost done?" Karin asked.

"Two more loads," Tesra answered as he joined them with his son, bottle in hand with cub firmly latched on. "Yuzu is just folding the latest load."

After the cubs finished eating everyone was pulled into a game of tackle tag, even Szayel. It was the first time Karin had ever seen him play, or even seem happy for that matter. Tackle tag lasted about half an hour before it turned into a giant wrestling match, which Yuzu was quick to extract herself from. The laundry needed to be switched around so she used that as her excuse to get out of a sport she wasn't fond of.

(POV)

Ichigo considered himself a responsible person. Heck, he had shouldered more responsibility than many retired seniors thanks to his role as a substitute Shinigami and his involvement in stopping Aizen's attempt as genocide. Than there were the rescue missions he had lead. Add being a young father attending his first year of college and he was lucky to get even a moment to himself. Fortunately, there were people in his life who made sure that he got that moment. The best one at it was his mate, Grimmjow.

Grimmjow could pretend to be a tough bastard all he wanted, but Ichigo knew he was a rather needy creature who craved Ichigo's attention, be it while their Zanpkauto's were locked in a sparing match or their lips locked in intimacy. Oddly enough, Ichigo had noticed that a good number of the first ended in the later.

Grimmjow, unlike himself, was not so much of a responsible person. The Arrancar was more into the here and now than he was into taking responsibility for either his actions or anything else assigned to him. Now this did not mean that he was irresponsible to the point of detriment. When it came to Cachorro's care Grimmjow never skimped. It just meant that, unlike the hybrid, Grimmjow had no problems taking a few extra minutes, or an hour, getting back to the den when their home was secure and their cubs safe. And that is what led Ichigo to his current predicament, not that he was complaining too much about it anymore and his protest hadn't lasted overly long. It was hard to think about things like responsibility when all of his blood had abandoned his brain and rushed south.

(POV)

Grimmjow found himself getting restless. He'd already finished hunting for the day and returned to their den, only to discover that Ichigo hadn't returned from his study session with the Quincy yet. After spending some time with Cachorro, the cub was starting to grow quickly and was already the size of an ocelot, he'd sent the cub to bed as it was getting late. Szayel and his daughter still nested in their den with them so Cachorro went without too much of a fight, curled up with his half sister and the Natural Beta. Szayel wasn't overly happy about being 'sent to bed' early when he wanted to keep working on the device that would permit Ichigo to be visible in his soul form, something the Scientist's was actually fairly certain he could do in a timely matter if he could only GET the time to actually work in his lab.

Grimmjow did try to understand Ichigo's obsession with this school thing he went on about, but he just didn't get it. Why did anyone need anything beyond basic addition, subtraction, multiply and dividing? Who cared what happened hundreds of years ago, how was that going to help him hunt down the next meal? He could understand gaining medical knowledge, as that did have a practical use, but why did Ichigo need to study some story written by some old guy ages ago, and worse, pick it apart to find some hidden meaning in the words that only existed in the teachers imagination? The whole thing was a waste of Ichigo's time, time the teen could be spending with his family, with their cub, with him.

Ichigo was burning himself out with all of this studying and, even though the teen tried, it was very clear that Ichigo was exhausted by the time he got home and barely had any energy to spare their son, let alone him. In fact, it almost seemed to Grimmjow that Ichigo was spending more time with Szayel and Ishida than he was with him, and that was just not going to fly. Ichigo was his mate, not Szayel's and certainly not some puny human boy.

With his cub safely tucked in, Grimmjow escorted Ichigo's sisters home, not because he felt they needed the protection (granted the black haired one was starting to get powerful enough to attract attention and something was going to have be done about it soon), but because Ichigo was currently somewhere just off to the right and way past their house anyway.

The girls chatted, more for Yuzu's sake as she was still nervous around him, on the way home. He followed behind them, weary for any sign of danger while tracking Ichigo's location just to make sure that the teen didn't move on him. Not that Ichigo was hard to track. In a town full of only a dozen people who even had reiatsu that was noticeable if you were standing on top of them, Ichigo blazed like the sun did from Venus.

Yuzu thanked him for walking them home while Karin just offered him a vague kind of laid back, half wave thing. Isshin was waiting for them at the door and offered him a small nod of his head in greeting. Grimmjow returned it only because this former Shinigami was his mate's father and, despite his appearances, Isshin was rather powerful. This was also the man who had save Hijastro's life and, though he would deny it to his dying breath, Grimmjow had grown fond of his son's sister.

He was halfway to Ichigo's location when he felt the teen start to move away from the Quincy's house, or at least what he presumed was the Quincy's house. It could very well be a library or café for all he knew or cared.

They crossed paths in one of Kurkara's more wooded parks. The only light came from the distant city lights reflecting off of a few wisps of clouds and the many stars that dotted the sky. There had never been stars in Hueco Mundo and one could lose themselves staring at them without ever realizing it. There was no moon tonight and that was more disconcerting than the bright light and size of a full moon. The moon had been a part of his life for so long that he had never noticed it's impact on him life until it was suddenly no longer there.

"Is something wrong?" Ichigo asked concerned as the two of them walked up to each other, meeting under the swaying branches and rustling leaves of a half bear Sakura tree, most of its leaves having been pulled off by the cool fall breeze over the last week.

"Just the fact your ass is never around," he grunted, letting his annoyance show through without any dampening. "If you ain't careful I'll pull control of this pack out from right under your book crossed eyes," he taunted.

Ichigo sighed, but didn't argue with him, a clear indicator to just how tired the teen was. Ichigo was trying to fight too many wars on too many fronts and it was spreading the hybrid so thin he was starting to become transparent. This school nonsense, being a father, leading a pack, all of it was starting to wear the hybrid down. In fact, if it was anytime he would stand a real good chance of taking the role of Alpha it would be now. Cachorro was old enough now that they were starting to have to be careful in instigating intercourse least they start up the ritual by accident.

That lead his mind down another track, one he never would have even considered before meeting Ichigo. Before he wouldn't have even given it a second thought, in fact he wouldn't have even cared about another person's feelings on the matter. But now that he was a quickly evolving Arrancar, such thoughts and concerns slithered their way into his mind.

Szayel. There was no guarantee that Szayel would stay with them forever. Once Hijastro was old enough to fend for herself there would no longer be such a powerful, tying factor keeping the Natural Beta in the pack. Before Ichigo he wouldn't have even given Szayel the chance to leave having learned what he was. Natural Beta's were strongly sought after due to their parenting capabilities and once mated or put into a pack they were seldom permitted to leave.

But he just knew that Ichigo would never, nor permit anyone, to forcefully make someone stay. Szayel had said he didn't plan on going anywhere, but that didn't mean he might not change his mind down the road. So far Szayel was the only one capable of feeding any of his potential cubs. Another thing he never would have considered before Ichigo was how Sazyel would feel nursing all of their cubs while remaining barren himself. There was no one that Grimmjow knew that would be able to dominate the former Espada other than himself and Ichigo. Szayel may be a Naturally Born Beta, but strength mattered as well and right now there was no one stronger than Ichigo and Ichigo clearly had no interest in Szayel, at least not sexually.

Ichigo started walking again, breaking Grimmjow out of his thoughts as he snapped his arm out to stop Ichigo from walking away. It wasn't often the two of them were alone together anymore. When Ichigo was home the cubs ate up a lot of his attention. After all, Ichigo considered Hijastro his and he tried to give his daughter as much attention as he did their son.

"Where do you think you are going, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow taunted.

"Home, to sleep," Ichigo answered exhaustively before seeming to perk up and look him in the eye. "Why, did you have another idea?" the teen questioned with just a hint of suggestion in his voice.

"A few options came to mind," Grimmjow smirked at him.

"Really?" Ichigo closed the distance between them until they were practically breathing the same air. "And what might those options be?" he questioned.

"I was thinking of kicking your ass, and then fucking it," Grimmjow taunted, his smirk widening as Ichigo rolled his eyes but didn't admonish him for the use of language. The cubs weren't around so Ichigo couldn't use his normal excuse to complain about it.

"That would never happen," Ichigo taunted.

"Why, because you think your better than me?" Grimmjow demanded, feeling his old anger rising.

"No, because there is no chance in hell I would ever let you win and than have to suffer listening to H'tsu moan and scream about it for hours on end," Ichigo answered.

Grimmjow couldn't help but to throw back his head and let out a bark of a laugh, knowing Ichigo was right. Hell, H'tsu would probably manifest as often as he could just so he could rant to both of them about it. There was no denying that Ichigo was stronger, and in the Hollow world the strong didn't just offer themselves up to the weak.

And yet… an Alpha never treated a Beta the way Ichigo had him. He recalled all too well the argument they'd had shortly after Szayel's arrival about being a beast. Despite himself, Grimmjow was starting to understand more about what several of the higher ranked Espada had been going on about; granted they had been fully evolved Vasto Lorde and, in most cases, had time to deal with the full return of their emotions. Granted, Grimmjow wasn't certain if Ulquiorra had been a Vasto Lorde before Aizen found him. He definitely knew Starrk had been and strongly suspected that Harribel and Nel had been as well, or at least very close to that final stage before becoming Arrancar. Nel especially based on her highly advanced thinking and emotions. Either that or she was special… or also a Natural Beta, they did tend to have more social qualities. Huh, funny how he never thought of that until now.

"Tell H'tsu he needs to evolve a bit."

Ichigo chuckled with him this time, before bursting into a deeper laugh, no doubt at something H'tsu had said. Or possibly Zangetsu. Grimmjow briefly wondered what it would be like if Pantera was able to talk to him, if his blade was more than a simple sealing of his powers. Judging by some of the expressions Ichigo got on his face at times, perhaps it was better not to know.

"I agree. Now about this spare time," Ichigo moved forward that last little bit so their bodies were pressed together.

Grimmjow felt his thoughts pulled back to the present and felt his hakama start to get a little too tight. He was going to have to get a bigger pair because this was becoming a rather large problem lately.

It didn't take them long to discard their clothing and find a comfortable, yet somewhat concealed, patch of grass. Dimly Grimmjow noted that his back was going to be covered in grass stains from his squirming, but as long as Ichigo kept assaulting his thighs with those little nips and the tip of his leaking shaft with those little licks of his tongue, he could live with the grass stains.

His hands were going to need some good cleaning too as they were clenching and clawing at the grass beside him in pleasure. He would sooner have tangled them in Ichigo's hair, but at the rate he was clawing up the turf the teen's scalp would have been shredded. Damn Ichigo sure knew how to make him squirm, even if the teen was half exhausted.

Ichigo didn't pay too much attention to his aching shaft, probably thanks to H'tsu, and all too quickly his Alpha was nipping his way up Grimmjow's chest, leaving a trail of teeth marks in his wake. The straight line deviated when it grew abreast of his nipples. The wet, hot mouth evolved his left nipple while a strong hand assaulted the other. Ichigo's free hand didn't remain idle either, and instead took up tormented his swollen head in place of the tongue that had been tormenting him earlier.

His precum spread easily and the sensitive tip trembled as a calloused thumb rubbed enticingly against it. His nipples hardened in a painfully pleasurably manner as they were tormented and teased. Despite himself, little gasps of pleasure escaped his mouth, although it was the odd, low moan that would have left him feeling mortified had he the remaining thought capacity to be mortified.

He was so far gone under Ichigo's ministrations that he never even noticed the dew slowly collecting on their bodies as the evening wore on and Ichigo continued his slow torment, occasionally switching which nipple got his mouth's attention. By the time Ichigo finally continued his kissing, nipping path up to the Alpha's favourite latching point on his bared throat, he was already ready to cum and covered in far more sweat than dew. He felt light headed from the lack of oxygen his panting was causing. In fact, the moment Ichigo's teeth pierced the skin above his jugular he would have cum had Ichigo's hand not clamped firmly around the base to stop it.

He thrashed now, has claws digging into Ichigo's skin as he tried to dislodge the hand holding him back from his release. Blood ran down the shredded forearm, but Ichigo didn't seem to mind and the warm, sticky substance touching his dew and sweat soaked body just turned him on all the more.

"Kurosaki," he tried to snarl, but it came out more like a pleading whine that punctured some fairly deep holes in his ego. Damn he hated the hybrid about as much as he loved him.

He could feel the smirk against his throat and Ichigo finished that kissing trek to his mouth. Their lips locked and their tongue warred with each other, He could taste his own blood on Ichigo's tongue and he felt his shaft pulse again before subsiding a bit. They duelled there between their lips for a short while before he felt a slick finger begin to probe his entrance.

They didn't have oil here and it was too warm to be the dew. It felt a little thicker than water so he doubted it was sweat. He completely lost the tongue war when he realized Ichigo was using his own blood from his shredded forearm to prepare his Beta since they didn't have the oil they usually used. It was back in the den. He never recovered and lost the next tongue thrusting war when one finger became two, than three right after as Ichigo worked on stretching him.

The teens free hand remained clamped around his shaft and he lost the third round of the tongue war as the special gland buried inside of him was attacked by a questing finger. He suddenly found himself flipped onto his chest but he didn't have the capability to fight back as Ichigo expertly assaulted that pleasure spot inside of him, leaving him a panting mess of moans. His chest quickly followed his back in being covered in grass stains.

Grimmjow had never noticed how nice and soft grass was, nor how wonderful it smelt until now. His nose was buried in it and the dew just made it smell richer. It was the only thing he had to help him focus on something other than the blinding pleasure Ichigo was giving him, the only thing to help steady him from utter blissful oblivion as Ichigo was no longer denying him release and he refused to use his own hands to clamp down on his own shaft.

Ichigo hovered over him, those three fingers still buried deep within and assaulting him. It was getting late enough, and thus cold enough, that he could see his own breath as he panted, and yet his body was so flushed in pleasure that he never noticed the chill in the air. Ichigo didn't torment him too long like that before the fingers were removed and a thicker, warmer object began to penetrate him. Ichigo let out a sigh of pleasure of his own now as his shaft sank deep into his Beta. Once fully seated Ichigo pulled him up a bit so he was on his knees as it gave the teen a much better angle with which to thrust into him.

Barely three thrust in and already he was ready to cum. Ichigo's aim was still as true as ever and he sometimes wondered how in the hell the teen did it. His entire body was racked with pleasure, each thrust into the sensitive spot inside of him sent shocks of pleasure racing through out his entire body. His arms trembled and he found himself laying chest first against the grass, unable to support his own weight under the assault of pleasure that coursed through him. Each pant brought in a fresh taste of the dew damp grass he was laying against and his chest quickly became as stained as his back. Something about the smell of the grass just made the pleasure seem that much sharper. It was unlike anything he'd every experienced.

Ichigo picked up the pace and they started to move across the grass, the blades slicked by the dew made the grass rather slippery and definitely helped with the travel. It wasn't long before they found themselves before one of the park benches. He barely had time to register the fact there was an object in their path before a hand was tangled in his hair and pulled him back flush against the one pounding into him.

Ichigo paused, still buried deep inside him, as the teen shifted them around a bit until he was kneeling over the bench. Then, in a manoeuvre that he couldn't even follow, he found himself in Ichigo's lap, straddling the teen and effectively putting him on top. Ichigo didn't give him much chance to adjust to the new position before he started moving again, thrust up into his mate and latching his teeth onto his favourite part of Grimmjow's throat.

Griummjow's head fell back and his sharpened nails dug deep into Ichigo's shoulders, causing small streams of blood to begin to flow down the teen's shoulders. Ichigo let out a load moan of delight at the slight pain. His neglected shaft bounced between them and ached with need, but he was unable to move a hand down to take care of it least he lose his balance and tumble out of Ichigo's lap to land on the grass.

Ichigo must have sensed his dilemma for the teen spared a hand and started to firmly stroke him. The stimulation was getting to be too much for him to handle and he found himself thrusting back against the teen desperately Sweet was rolling down his body now and he was steaming slightly as the cool night air made contact with his inflamed body. Ichigo was steaming slightly now too and the city lights reflecting from the clouds fell around them giving his Alpha an almost mystical glow. As enchanting as Grimmjow found Ichigo, it was nothing compared to how Ichigo felt about his mate, steaming, glowing and silhouetted against starlit, black sky. For the first time since their mating, Ichigo was the one who finished first. Grimmjow came right behind the teen, his seed splashing all over their chests.

When the last spurs were milked from both of them they both went limp, Ichigo leaning against the park bench in even greater exhaustion and Grimmjow slumped against him with his head resting against Ichigo's neck; a position that he never would have been permitted to take had their mating still been so fresh.

He didn't want to ruin his good mood but if Ichigo was confident enough to let Grimmjow's fangs so close to his neck than that meant their mating was almost finished and sex between them was going to have to be much more careful if he didn't want to have another cub again so soon.

Ichigo suddenly stiffened beneath him and Grimmjow pulled back to note the teen was looking about them with a look of shock and horror on his face before his wild looking about suddenly froze and the teen visibly paled. Frowning, Grimmjow looked over to see what had taken the teens attention and burst into laughter at the stunned, and flushed, faces of two park drunks that were staring at them with mouths agape and obvious tents in their pants; or, more accurately, they were staring at Ichigo as Grimmjow was invisible to them. It must have been one hell of an interesting show.

"It's not funny," Ichigo scowled at him, pushing him off of the teens lap as Ichigo made a mad dash for his clothes, his skin a deep crimson in embarrassment.

Grimmjow laid back in the cool grass and stared up at the sky, his body feeling exhausted and still a bit tingly from the after affects of his orgasm. The trance was broken by his clothing and Zanpakuto landing on his chest as Ichigo tossed them down at him.

He moved the fabric from his face and noticed Ichigo was still blushing with that familiar scowl etched firmly on his face and doing his best not to look over to where the two drunks were snickering. Through the scowl and blushes Grimmjow could notice that Ichigo was deadly exhausted, the wild sex having sapped what was left of Ichigo's strength.

Grimmjow got to his feet and pulled his clothes back on. The two of them walked back to the den in companionable silence. As much fun as it had been sparing with Ichigo, he had to admit that the sex was almost better.

* * *

><p>Thank you all so much for the reviews and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I take no blame for any fogged up windows or mirrors nor I hold responsibility for any blood loss and stains associated with said blood loss. I think I am going to do a 5 year time skip for the next chapter, no ETA on it<p> 


	41. Moving On

Moving On

He'd finally finished it. He'd completed his post-secondary degree in just five years when most students took far longer. Everyone had thought him insane for taking such a heavy course load, especially with a family to care for, but it had paid off. Now he had the time to spend with his children and mate, at least until the job offers began rolling in.

Ichigo walked into the main den with a wide smile on his face. Five loud squeals of delight greeted him and five small bodies hurtled towards him. The two largest bullets reached him first, jumping into his arms with loud, excited cries of "Papa!"

Hijastro and Cachorro were both five now and displayed the size and mentality of any normal five-year-old child. It would seem his human blood, or possibly the fact they were descended from Arrancar, had slowed down their normal Hollow progression. Both cubs were fully capable of talking now and had been doing so since they were three.

Ichigo set his two oldest down and greeted the trio of two-year-old triplets. After Grimmjow had come out of the first mating ritual they had struggled to find a way to continue their amorous relationship without the activity resulting in another pregnancy, which was pretty much how all sex between hollows ended up. It had been Kisuke who suggested they try using conventional family planning methods. After all, if his reiatsu-infused semen never entered his partner's body then there would be nothing to render into a new cub. Ichigo had certainly felt like an idiot after that, and the shopkeeper would occasionally get in a dig about a physician's son, and a physician-in-training, overlooking such an obvious solution.

For three years condoms made certain that they could partake in all of the sex they wanted, when he had the energy for it. Then, on one very enjoyable night, the damn thing had broken and Grimmjow had started hissing and spitting at him like a rabid animal. The drain had been far more severe than the first time. The effect on Grimmjow was enough for Ichigo to summon his father. Isshin, upon examining the Espada, quickly concluded that it was likely that Grimmjow was carrying more than one cub. In fact, when the time for laying the eggs arrived, there had been four, but the last had been a dud.

Ichigo was not sure who had wanted to kill him more when the eggs were laid, Grimmjow for being accidentally knocked up or Szayel when he had been presented with three cubs to feed. Ichigo was certain, however, that the arrival of these three had been met by the pink-haired Arrancar with both extreme glee and extreme sadness. After all, the only two powerful enough to mate with the scientist were mated to one other. The arrival of these three just reminded Szayel that the likelihood of having anymore cubs of his own was very, very slim.

"_**You know I am always willing to fuck him,**__**"**_ H'tsu purred in his mind.

Ichigo ignored his hollow, a habit he'd developed over years of practice at tuning H'tsu out. Neither Szayel nor Kisuke had ever found a way to re-forge his soul into one, so both Zangetsu and H'tsu could still manifest. Keeping H'tsu, and his temper at some of the things the creature said to him on a daily basis, under control while enduring long hours of rigorous study was one way of toughening up, he supposed.

Ichigo looked at his three youngest before turning his gaze towards Szayel, who was sitting on the couch with various journals, piles of paper and several pens spread out before him on the coffee table. Grimmjow was not here at the moment; Ichigo presumed his mate was in Hueco Mundo overseeing the renovation of Los Noches. Tesra, Yylfordt and Ternero had moved back there two years ago, just before the '_accident_,' with the intent of undertaking the arduous task of rebuilding and refitting it, as well as cub-proofing much of it. Kisuke frequently journeyed there as well and between him and Szayel they had found most, if not all, of the little 'devices' Kurotsuchi had left behind. The two had removed and disposed of most of them. They did leave a few of the small cameras in place, once Kisuke determined that they were harmless. Kisuke, who knew the 12th Division Taichou well, speculated that if all of the devices went dark at once the lack of incoming data would serve as an invitation for Kurotsuchi to try to replace them. Szayel had come up with a much better solution as far as the cameras were concerned. They simply piggybacked signals onto those cameras and used them as their own. Doing so cut down on both the cost of the new monitoring system, as well as the extra time it would have taken to install new cameras.

"Were they a handful?" Ichigo asked as he walked towards the only other adult currently in the den. Now that each had had a chance to greet their parent, all five cubs darted back to the giant jungle gym they had been busy with before Ichigo had arrived.

"An agreeable one," Szayel answered with a small smile that had a hint of sadness in it as his eyes watched the five cubs play.

"_**Offer still stands,**__**"**_H'tsu piped up.

Once more Ichigo ignored him, though he had to admit that a part of him worried that Szayel might actually consider H'tsu's offer seriously. The teen had grudgingly passed it along after H'tsu hadn't let him sleep for an entire week leading up to one of his major final exams shortly after the triplets had hatched. Szayel's reaction had indicated he was less than receptive to the idea.

"H'tsu?" Szayel asked, biting his lip.

"Yeah, he's being a pain in the ass about it," Ichigo admitted through gritted teeth. Apparently, he had a habit of scowling whenever his hollow spoke up and that's how the others always knew when H'tsu was bothering him.

"What does he want this time?"

"Nothing important, he's just being a jerk," Ichigo shrugged as he finished walking around the furniture to collapse in the chair. For a moment, Szayel seemed a little wary of him, but when nothing happened, he resumed his work.

The journals spread out on the table were the cubs' reports. It seemed that Szayel was making notes from the six books and marking each of the similarities the six cubs shared between them. With six samples, and three separate breeding partners, Szayel felt confident in labelling the data as confirmed Arrancar Offspring Attributes.

"I trust your final test went well?" Szayel asked offhandedly, golden eyes sliding back to the reports on the coffee table and picking up a pen.

"Yes, I am confident I passed it with a high mark. In fact, I have received a large number of offers from various well-off hospitals, including the one owned by Ishida's father," Ichigo chuckled, knowing that Szayel would appreciate the connection and the irony.

Ishida still stopped by every once in a while, usually with Yuzu and an entire bag of frilly dresses for Hijastro. Ichigo had been right, Ishida had managed to make several dress designs that took Hijastro's wings into consideration and, like any young girl, Hijastro immensely enjoyed being dressed up by the two, much to Szayel displeasure. Ishida had made it his duty to get back at the former Espada through his daughter, and Ichigo was positive that the Quincy was winning the war. Every dress, usually a confection of lace, sating and ruffles, had some reference to, if not an actual, Quincy Cross somewhere on the garment in a spot that would be hard to repair if anyone tried to remove it.

"Oi, you finally done with all that school shit?"

Ichigo's train of thought derailed as he turned his attention towards his returning mate. The cubs gave their second parent the same kind of greeting they'd given Ichigo, only this time the triplets were out in front. Cachorro approached in a more leisurely manner, escorting Hijastro to Szayel before joining his two brothers and one sister at Grimmjow's feet. Ichigo smiled in approval at his eldest as Cachorro waltzed pass him.

Hijastro hopped up on the couch next to Szayel and curled up beside him, purring contently and sighing in pleasure as one of his hands reached down to scratch her vigorously behind an ear.

"Yeah, the schooling is finally over with," Ichigo answered once the cubs had calmed down enough for Grimmjow to hear his answer.

"Finally! I thought you were going to be dealing with that crap for the next century." Grimmjow snorted as he extracted himself from the four cubs and prowled towards him.

Ichigo felt his pants get tighter at the display of prowess and he heard Szayel sigh in exasperation, with just a hint of wistfulness.

"What's got your tail in a knot?" Grimmjow demanded suddenly, blue eyes sliding to Szayel.

"Nothing," Szayel said quickly. He leaned forward and began to pack up the journals he had spread out on the table. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the lab," he announced, picking up the stack of documents and beating a hasty retreat.

Hijastro looked after him for a moment before jumping up and flying after him. The triplets cried out in delight, trying to chase after her, only to have Cachorro cut them off and herd them back to the Jungle Gym. Once there, they quickly forgot about their half-sister and started to hunt their older brother instead.

"He's worse than a woman," Grimmjow grunted, collapsing onto the couch and taking a big stretch before sitting up properly. Ichigo gave him a nudge in the ribs.

"I can understand why he's upset, I just wish there was something we could do for him," Ichigo said.

The Espada raised one eyebrow, and then reached up to stretch out his spine, before leaning forward, his arms folded and his forearms resting on his knees.

"What about those Vizard friends of yours?" Grimmjow suggested. His mate shook his head, and then pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I already asked. None of them are remotely interested," Ichigo said and sighed.

It had been the one idea he'd thought would be remotely workable, but none of the Vizard were interested either in becoming parents or in mating with a Hollow. Like him, they, well most of them, took relationships seriously. Simply acting as a stud didn't appeal to them and none of them wanted children now. It was also a serious offence for Shinigami to have carnal relationships with a hollow and since several of them had taken up positions within the Gotei 13 again, they really had no interest in testing the rules.

On several occasions, Ichigo had even briefly toyed with the idea of offering himself, but had quickly squashed the idea since Grimmjow had made it very clear he would not accept another Beta. Of course, that had been years ago but Ichigo had never had the courage to bring it up to see if his mate had changed his mind over it. After all, it was the Beta's choice about whether or not an Alpha had more than one mate, at least in most cases. If H'tsu had wanted to mate with another while he'd held Szayel as his Beta, Ichigo doubted Szayel would have made a peep about it, even if he had objected.

"So now that you're done with this garbage, I think we should celebrate," Grimmjow smirked at him and scooted closer to the young man. The smirk quickly deteriorated into an outright leer.

"Oh?" Ichigo asked casually, raising an eyebrow and pretending not to notice that the look his mate sent him reeked of long-pent-up desire. "I suppose we could invite everyone over and have a party, but I should probably wait for my final grades to come in."

The growl Grimmjow gave sent a shiver of delight down his spine and straight to his quickly hardening shaft. He told his libido, reluctantly, to knock it off. As much as Ichigo wanted to jump Grimmjow right there and then, someone had to watch the cubs. They were at the age that getting into trouble in a plain, padded room was an ever-present possibility. Grimmjow must have had the same line of thought, for the former Sexta let out a displeased sigh and turned his own attention back to his children.

It may have been three-on-one, but Cachorro had the advantage of size and experience when it came to wrestling with his younger siblings and he wasn't in the habit of making it easy for them to 'corner their prey.' Both adults watched the cubs play and any sexual disappointment they might have felt quickly gave way to parental pride instead.

(TIME)

Ichigo tucked his youngest daughter in, a soft smile on his face as the little white cub with the grey shading on her paws and ears let out a yawn before she closed eyes the same shade as Grimmjow's and quickly fell asleep. Szayel tucked in Hijastro from the other side of the nest. The two girls shared a den while the three boys shared another. Grimmjow was seeing to the boys. Apparently, female cubs made him a little uncomfortable.

Szayel didn't seem to be upset anymore but Ichigo did note the slight red tint to his eyes indicating he'd probably had a good self-pitying sob fest shortly after leaving the main chamber earlier.

Ichigo wanted to say something encouraging, but couldn't think of anything so kept his mouth shut instead, not wanting to make the situation worse. Instead, he returned to the lair he shared with Grimmjow after making sure that someone secured all of the doors. The predatory look that a very naked and aroused Grimmjow gave him sent that shiver through his entire body yet again, and this time he didn't try to stop it. He noticed that Grimmjow was not in bed alone. He'd dragged Pantera and Zangetsu with him.

It was a silent request and Ichigo was surprised that he even understood it. Perhaps it was just a sign as to how much they had come to know each other that they were able to read each other so easily.

A part of him wanted to say yes and another part wanted to say no. They already had four cubs, he had five, and he felt it would be very unfair to Szayel, regardless of the fact Szayel had assured them he had no problems feeding their cubs. Ichigo _had_ promised they would mate again when he finished school. Of course, that had been before the 'triple accident' had occurred. The pros and cons of mating again warred within him as he stripped out of his clothing. Grimmjow watched him silently and Ichigo appreciated the fact that his mate was letting him come to the decision on his own without trying to influence it. By the time Ichigo was as naked as Grimmjow, he had come to a decision. Without a word, he picked up Zangetsu and pulled the Zanpakuto from his sheath.

Grimmjow grinned up at him happily and jumped to his own feet, drawing Pantera as he did so. They retreated to the training basement so their battle wouldn't disturb the cubs and lone adult holed up in his laboratory. The normal sun was gone and a star-lit ceiling made up the roof this evening. Ichigo thought that the ceiling upgrade, courtesy of Kisuke, was an improvement over the old one. He made a brief mental note to let the shopkeeper know it added a nice bit of ambience to the chamber.

It was strange fighting completely naked, a little jarring actually with that extra limb slapping at his thighs as he moved. They battled for a good hour before Grimmjow tossed Pantera aside and lunged at him barehanded. Ichigo also disarmed himself, but he didn't toss Zangetsu. He would never hear the end of it if he did. Instead, he jabbed the blade point first into the ground and met his mate's attack hand to hand.

They wrestled for a short while, their skin rubbing against each other and thick arousals growing stiffer each time they brushed, which happened often as they tumbled on the ground. Ichigo could feel their reiatsu rising as the battle for dominance commenced. His own reiatsu was far greater than Grimmjow's and nothing was ever likely to change that. Nails dug deeply into his arms and shoulders as he pinned Grimmjow beneath him. His own teeth latched onto the now-permanent scar on Grimmjow's throat, created by five years of constant biting. His mate's blood tasted as sweet as ever and the flesh beneath his lips trembled as Grimmjow growled in a mixture of pleasure and annoyance.

Ichigo couldn't help but to grin against the skin beneath his lips. He brought a hand up to grasp their erections and stroked them together. The claws imbedded in his shoulders tightened and small streams of blood began to run down his arms.

A thought suddenly crossed his mind, one that had embedded itself in his brain earlier. As the height of the ritual, Ichigo pulled his mates hips up, and then impaled himself upon Grimmjow's thick shaft.

He was too busy getting use to the strange and painful sensation of having something shoved up his unprepared virgin ass to notice the look of complete shock Grimmjow gave him. Ichigo, no stranger to pain, got over it quickly, took a few deep breaths to steady himself and started to move while Grimmjow remained stunned beneath him. The sensation wasn't very pleasant, as his actions and the friction they caused rubbed him raw.

"_Should have lubed up first,__"_ he thought distractedly and grimaced. _"That's what I get for being impulsive…"_

Eventually his passage stretched a little bit, but it wasn't until Grimmjow finally got over his shock, flipped them over so the Arrancar was now on top, and started to thrust into him that the head of the stronger Arrancar's cock hit his prostate and the reason why anyone would want the position suddenly became clear to him.

Sparks exploded in front of his eyes and a sensation he had never felt before raced through his body. It didn't take long for Grimmjow to get the right angle, at which point all further thoughts, and H'tsu's screaming voice calling him all sorts of terrible things, completely disappeared into the background. Ichigo chose to simply focus on the overwhelmingly pleasure that Grimmjow seemed determined to pound into him. Now he understood why the former Espada had accepted his fate as Ichigo's Beta, if this was the kind of bliss Ichigo had given him over the years. This was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Grimmjow aimed true with each thrust, and each stroke against his prostate sent more of those wonderful sparks and jolts running from the roots of his hair to his toenails. Even H'tsu shut up completely as the intensity of it all raged through him and back again.

When Grimmjow finally roared and pumped his semen into him, Ichigo could sense the accompanying reiatsu rush in and start swirling about in his stomach. It was a strange feeling, and yet it wasn't entirely unpleasant, even with the small cramps that accompanied it. When the last convulsion came, Grimmjow remained still above him for a moment before collapsing beside him, panting in exhaustion. His hadn't even noticed when he'd reached his own release, but he must have because it covered both their stomachs with a sticky mess.

"Why?" Grimmjow demanded when he finally caught his breath, being the first to speak.

"I figured it's only fair I take a turn. You have already given us four cubs and I was honestly a little curious to know what it's like." Ichigo answered honestly.

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes and Ichigo brought a hand to rest on his midsection. For some odd reason the image of an old butter churn popped into his head and he chuckled. The thought seemed to fit the sensation growing in his body.

"How long does the rendering last?" he asked curiously.

Grimmjow let out a long breath, and then looked at the hand on Ichigo's belly.

"Several hours. You should notice the drain soon. Within two days you'll be as weak as that Omega sister of yours."

Ichigo could feel his energy swirling about, but he didn't notice too much in the way of draining yet. Of course, his pool was considerably bigger than Grimmjow's so maybe it just might take him a bit longer to feel it when it did diminish.

Now that the mating was over, H'tsu's unwelcome voice returned in a frothing rage and Ichigo winced a bit at some of the language his hollow used. Not to mention his high-pitched, shrill tone. In turn, Ichigo made a face that he wished H'tsu could see. Sometimes a scowl was worth a thousand curses.

"H'tsu's a little upset," Ichigo explained when Grimmjow gave him a questioning look.

"I bet," Grimmjow laughed, rolling onto his side so he could stare at Ichigo and rest a hand over the swirling vortex of reiatsu, brushing Ichigo's fingers with his own.

Ichigo hardly noticed. All of his attention was on the odd goings-on in his gut. As intriguing as it was, he didn't plan to sleep on the sand, so after half-an-hour the two of them retreated to the bathroom for a quick cleanup before returning to their den.

It didn't take Grimmjow long to fall asleep, but Ichigo was up for most of the night, unable to find slumber as his stomach roiled, fusing their joint reiatsu into a new being. It did hurt a little, but the discomfort was less painful compared to a blade slicing into his flesh. He also had to calm H'tsu down before his hollow did something rash, like manifest on his own. It actually didn't take too long to get H'tsu under control, especially since he had Zangetsu's support in his decision to be the one to carry the offspring this time.

(TIME)

Grimmjow woke up the next morning feeling very pleasant. He'd had the most excellent dream last night, one in which he'd _finally_ managed to top Kurosaki. His eyes fluttered opened to see Ichigo staring dazedly, and tiredly, up at the ceiling. To top it off, the teen's reiatsu fluctuated wildly, far more active than it should have been.

The Espada's mouth ran dry as his memory of the previous evening promptly kicked him fully away. Electric blue eyes grew momentarily as large as saucers.

Holy shit, it wasn't a dream! Ichigo _had_ let him top last night, and now the young human was carrying his offspring. If Grimmjow had plumage, it would have been puffed up in pride. Instead, he settled for a shit-eating grin, one that covered his face and which he could feel all the way down to the soles of his feet. Then he took a second look at his mate and shifted gears, realizing that Ichigo looked worn out.

"Did you even sleep last night?" he demanded.

"Nah, I couldn't get to sleep," Ichigo answered and then yawned.

"Don't make a habit of that. The drain happens surprisingly quickly," Grimmjow warned.

"Yeah, I know," Ichigo agreed.

Ichigo was obviously happy, but something about the whole scene was a little off. Something just didn't seem…. right. Grimmjow shrugged it off for now and moved closer to nuzzle at his mate's neck. Ichigo chuckled, and pushed his head away, complaining about it tickling.

Grimmjow frowned. This wasn't right. He was the Alpha now and Ichigo should have been baring his throat for him. He suppressed the warning growl his Instinct insisted he give to a subordinate. Ichigo wasn't a hollow after all and he didn't have the same powerful ingrained impulses. It was also obvious that his mate was distracted by the new life forming within him. His own Instinct cooled a bit at that thought and puffed up a bit once more. He had mated this powerful creature, had come out on top, and now his mate was very happily carrying their young. He could let this little disobedience slide. It wasn't as if Ichigo had flat out told him to stop, simply that it had tickled. He could get over it and found it a bit amusing at this point. He was not some mindless beast that acted solely on instinct anymore, as Ichigo was always too pleased to point out.

The sound of their cubs meowing hungrily for breakfast broke him out of his internal debate. Both of them rose and got ready for the day. Szayel exited his own den shortly after they walked out of theirs. The usual morning greeting died on the Natural Beta's lips as he regarded them. It was obvious that Szayel had quickly caught on that something was up. Any child could have. Grimmjow couldn't get rid of the grin on his face and Ichigo was still a little dazed and had a happy little smile of his own.

At least, it was a smile until he got a look at the expression the scientist wore.

Grimmjow couldn't decipher all the emotions that ran across Szayel's face, for they flickered though at a fast pace, but he did recognize happiness, longing, and a bucket-load of fear as the three major ones. He understood the first two, but the third one confused him. There was nothing for Szayel to fear, at least as far as he knew anyway.

Ichigo seemed completely oblivious to Szayel's suddenly awkward behaviour. Instead, his attention was on the five cubs as he patiently explained to them that they had a sibling on the way. The only ones that seemed to comprehend what Ichigo was trying to tell them were Hijastro and Cachorro. The triplets seemed far more interested in their next meal and followed Ichigo out of the main den and down the hall to the kitchen, leaving Grimmjow alone with Szayel.

"He let you top?" Szayel asked as nonchalantly as he could, but there was that undertone of pain and fear.

"Yeah. Said it was his turn or some nonsense like that," Grimmjow admitted, looking away and scratching the back of his head.

"I see," Szayel rubbed an arm nervously.

His fellow Arrancar was behaving as he had after H'tsu had finished with him, all meek and scared. What the hell was wrong with him? He didn't think H'tsu had escaped; Ichigo had been awake all night and probably would have noticed if his hollow had manifested. Granted, his mate had been distracted. Just to be sure, Grimmjow ran his own reiatsu over Szayel, checking for any traces of a foreign contaminate.

Szayel shivered as he felt the reiatsu sweep over his body, but didn't comment on it. He simply lowered his gaze and turned towards the kitchen.

"_You would think I mated him, not Ichigo,__"_he couldn't help but to think in a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

Szayel was acting very submissively, something he hadn't done in over four years. It was true that with Yylfordt and Tesra no longer living in the Earth-side den, the pack shake-up had relegated him back to his old place as Omega. However, Yuzu and Tesra still shared the _official_ title of pack Omega. Nothing had changed to…

"Ahh." Grimmjow groaned aloud as he finally figured out what was bothering Szayel.

Of course, something had changed. He wanted to smack his forehead with the heel of his hand at his own absent-mindedness. Hadn't he just been thinking about this? With Ichigo carrying _his_ offspring, that made him Pack Alpha, and he'd made it very clear in the past that he only put up with Szayel due to his tie to Ichigo's hollow and the fact that Ichigo felt responsible for him. That had changed over the years, but that old fear and doubt probably remained in Szayel's mind.

"Relax, I have no plans on kicking you out, Nursemaid," he snorted.

Szayel flashed him a look of extreme irritation and straightened his posture a bit. Grimmjow's smirk widened, pleased with himself that he had correctly deduced the problem and seemed to have fixed it in the span of less than a minute.

"Quit grovelling and slinking around like you're going to get hit. Ichigo's annoying as it is on a normal day and I don't want to have to put up with his pregnancy-induced nagging because you're cringing like a kicked puppy every time one of us says 'boo'. Didn't we agree you're a part of this pack?"

"Yes, we did," Szayel admitted slowly, and the meek posture went away to be replaced by a more appropriate one. "Now if you will excuse me, I had better start storing up reserves myself if I am expected to feed yet another of your brats," Szayel sniffed as he made his way out of the room.

"You do that," Grimmjow laughed after him, but his mirth ended quickly.

There was no doubt about the small flash of pain on Szayel's face at his statement. Grimmjow let out a sigh and made his own way into the middle of the chaos that was the kitchen on a weekday morning. Feeding five cubs was quite the chore, especially the triplets. The two boys still thought it was more fun to _wear_ their food than to eat it and his daughter was busy trying to share her breakfast with the little hollow lizard he had originally captured to teach Cachorro how to hunt. Somehow, the damn thing ended up as the family pet, living in a fifty-gallon fish tank filled with sand, rocks, and two cacti. The three adults in the lair gave off more than enough reiatsu to feed the critter and it was not dangerous to the cubs in any way.

Ichigo may be pregnant now, but other than that it was a normal chaotic morning in the den, making it appear as if nothing had changed. In fact, Ichigo looked as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"_Yeah, we will see how long that lasts,__"_Grimmjow couldn't help but think smugly. _"Let him get a taste of what being completely drained and useless really feels like."_

* * *

><p>love those reviews everyone, and I am pleased you all got a kick out of the park bench, lol. It was a spur of the moment idea and I think it panned out excellently. Now if only there were some excellent artists out there to draw that sexy scene.

I felt the time skip was necessary. Ichigo was really hitting school hard and there was not a lot of planned events. I find school ficts dreary and there was no way to do the schooling without making a large slew of OC's. Day to day life reading can get rather weary, as can writing it.

The triplets weren't planned either, I had planned on twins but than I thought, what the hell, lets really hit them. I may have been influence by Brave as well. I haven't thought of any names for the triplets so feel free to make suggestions. Um descriptions would help, wouldn't they?

Oldest: Boy. Black fur with blue highlights. Has Grimmjow's eyes.

Middle: Boy. Scruffy, tawny fur, kind of like Ichigo's hair, with white paws. Has Ichigo's eyes.

Youngest: Girl. White with grey paws. Has Grimmjow's eyes. Looks a lot like Cachorro.

Remember Arrancar go with Spanish origins so suggestions from that front are very welcomed. A mixture of Japanese and Spanish would be nice to see.

The next chapter is actually done and will be posted next week, pending munchkin demands and Warcraft addictions


	42. Not the Alpha

Not the Alpha

An entire week had passed since Ichigo shocked the entire pack by letting Grimmjow both top him and impregnate him. Yet the young man still smiled and remained busy caring for the five cubs he already had. In fact, Ichigo didn't look like an ounce of energy had been drained from him and if it wasn't for the obviously foreign reiatsu in his stomach, and the assurances of Szayel and Kisuke that yes, Ichigo was indeed pregnant, then no one would have been able to tell.

Grimmjow and his instincts were going insane. Ichigo should have been acting more docile, and yet when they cuddled at night it was he who still ended up writhing in pleasure beneath Ichigo's attentions. He was still the one who got the top position when the actual sex part came up, after all that was required to keep the markers up and unwanted hollows away, but every other nuance of being the Alpha was sidetracked and waylaid during 'cuddle time.' It was still his throat mauled by Ichigo's teeth, even though it should have been the other way around. During their moments of intimacy he never noticed that anything was amiss. It wasn't until afterwards that his Instinct reared up furiously and informed him that something was very wrong with the entire situation.

Even outside of the bedroom he noticed that the pack, and even himself before he caught it, still treated Ichigo as the Alpha. He may have been the one on top in their sex life, but in their pack life Ichigo was still in charge. The whole thing was starting to grate on his nerves and the others were starting to avoid him a bit, even the cubs. He tried not to let it show, but his irritation was making him cranky.

"_Fucking Kurosaki always has to do things his way,__"_ he mentally grouched. _"__He__'__s not a hollow, so it shouldn__'__t be surprising that things work differently for him,__"_he tried to point out to himself yet again.

Szayel and Kisuke had both been monitoring Ichigo closely, the two scientists having a field day with the new data Ichigo was giving them, after all this was the first time a hollow had impregnated a… well, impregnated whatever it was Ichigo was nowadays. In fact, Kisuke and Szayel were now suddenly both interested to know if a Hollow _could_ impregnate a male Shinigami, or even human, or if it was Ichigo's hollow half that let him be capable of the feat. Unfortunately, volunteers for such an experiment were not forthcoming, as it was still illegal for a Shinigami to have a consensual sexual relationship with a Hollow of any kind.

"_Bet that wouldn__'__t stop that clown-faced freak from finding out,__"_Grimmjow couldn't help but to think with a growl of hatred.

"You going to be moody all day?"

Grimmjow jerked a bit in surprise at Ichigo's voice. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed Ichigo climbing up to the top of the Jungle Gym, where he was absolutely _not_ sulking, to join him.

"I am not moody," he snapped.

"Of course not," Ichigo offered him a smile before settling down next to him.

Down below the five cubs were bouncing about Szayel, who was trying to brush out Hijastro, only for their own daughter to keep trying to get under the brush herself. The other two terrors seemed to think the brush was a toy and kept trying to bat at it. Cachorro was trying to rein his brothers in, but there were simply too many bodies in too small of a place. Eventually one of the triplets got a hold of the brush and ran off, followed quickly by his siblings. A game of 'I got the brush, try and get it' quickly ensued. Szayel gave an exasperated sigh, but a smile touched his lips as all five cubs suddenly got into the game of 'my brush.' The smile was warm, but there was still a hint of bitterness to it.

Ichigo moved closer to him, until he'd pressed himself up against his mate with his head resting against Grimmjow's shoulder. Grimmjow put an arm around Ichigo and felt the young man lean into him even more. It was moments like this that his Instinct felt the most content, when Ichigo just wanted some cuddling.

"This isn't working is it?" Ichigo questioned sadly.

"What isn't?" Grimmjow asked, slightly confused. A thought occurred to him and he grew suddenly concerned. "Is something wrong with the cub?"

"No, that part is fine," Ichigo quickly assured him. "I mean the whole Instinct thing. You're doing a good job of trying to hide it, but I can tell it's not working. I am not acting like a proper Beta. The instinct to be one isn't in me. I think my need to protect everyone is too strong," Ichigo said with a small smile.

Grimmjow mentally cursed a bit. He had been hoping Ichigo hadn't noticed. After all, he didn't want the young man worrying about him when he should be worrying about the cub forming inside of him.

"I can handle it. Like you said, we aren't mindless beasts anymore."

"I know," Ichigo assured him and curled even closer.

(POV)

They sat in companionable silence as they watched the cubs play. That bittersweet smile remained on Szayel's face and reminded Ichigo of something he'd been stewing over for some time. It was also the main reason he'd come up here to speak to Grimmjow. With any luck, his mate wouldn't take his suggestion the wrong way. Grimmjow might have nixed the whole thing had their positions in the Pack remained the same, but now that things were different…

"I think I might have an idea to fix the problem with Szayel as well."

"Hmm?"

"Hear me out before you agree or disagree."

Ichigo took a deep breath, and then launched into his idea and explained the reasoning behind it to his mate. He could tell Grimmjow was shocked and any number of emotions raced across his mate's face, but in the end a thoughtful expression settled on Grimmjow's face and Ichigo could tell that the Espada agreed with the crazy idea.

"When do you want to pull this shit?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager.

"Tonight, if you are up to it. I see no point in delaying or drawing out the inevitable."

"Alright, tonight it is, after we put the cubs to bed," Grimmjow agreed.

Ichigo snuggled up against his mate again, sighing in contentment at the heat radiating from the body pressed against his and mentally purring as a hand rubbed his lower back. This would work, he was sure of it.

(POV)

Szayel finished setting Hijastro to bed, his daughter wishing him a sleepy goodnight before curling up with her younger and smaller half-sister. When roughhousing with the boys got to be too much for the runt of the triplets, she often sought sanctuary with Hijastro, and Hijastro was all too willing to provide it. The two youngest boys had quickly learned to leave Hijastro alone if they didn't want Cachorro reminding them of their place in the pack.

The triplets hadn't started speaking coherently just yet, but they were definitely articulating and could say several recognizable words already, when they chose to use them. Most of the time they preferred not to, especially after one of them used one of _those _words and their Aunt Karin had washed out the offender's mouth with soap.

He was alone in the girls' room. Ichigo had asked him to put their daughter to bed and he had agreed. Give him the girls any day; the boys were a handful, especially when they insisted they were not sleepy. Fortunately for him, Hijastro was the living embodiment of perfection, and her younger sibling tried to emulate her.

With both girls curled up contently, he turned out the light and closed the door behind him. He made sure it was secure before stretching and heading towards his lab to catch up on paperwork. At least, that had been his intention until he discovered that he'd been locked out. The door to the lab was completely secured with the override code Ichigo had in his possession. Kisuke had installed the fail-safe in case Ichigo ever decided that Szayel was no longer 'safe.' The system itself was more for Soul Society's sense of security than anything else. Unfortunately, the door was tightly locked.

"What the hell," he muttered in annoyance.

Why would Ichigo keep him out of the lab? Had it been triggered accidentally? Perhaps one of the cubs had mistakenly activated it during one of their earlier 'hit all of the shiny things' games. He could probably override it, but it would be considerably faster if Ichigo handled it. Szayel also didn't want it to look as if he'd tampered with the thing. That misstep could land him in deep shit with the Soul Society overseers if they misinterpreted his intentions.

With a sigh of frustration, he tracked down Ichigo. He was surprised to find the undisputed pack Alpha, despite his current pregnant state (and wasn't _that_ just putting Grimmjow's tail in a thousand knots), down in the training room with Grimmjow. Perhaps the two were enjoying the hot spring down there. The steady thrum of their reiatsu indicated they were at rest and not doing anything strenuous, such as training or having raucous sex, so Szayel felt safe to intrude.

Any words that might have come out of his lips, such as "Pardon" or "Excuse me, please" died when he realized that Ichigo was lounging contently on a rock reading through one of the cub's journals and that Grimmjow was simultaneously swinging at him with an unsheathed Pantera. Szayel barely had time to bring his own Zanpakuto up in self-defence. Sparks flew as the two blades met before separating and Grimmjow swung at him again with a speed that was damn near impossible to keep up.

On the fifth meeting of their blades, Szayel almost faltered as he finally put two and two together. It suddenly dawned on him what might have prompted the attack. He dared to spare a glance over at Ichigo, who was watching them with a small smile, indicating his permission for the fight to continue. With the pack Alpha, and essential current Beta's, permission to both breed and mate with Grimmjow, Szayel threw himself against his opponent with an ecstasy he hadn't felt in a very long time.

The battle wasn't long as Grimmjow was far stronger than he was, so when Grimmjow knocked Fornicaras from his hand, tangled a fist into his pink hair and dragged him to the ground, Szayel only put up a token resistance. He was flipped about and pinned, chest to the ground. The stronger Arrancar brushed his hair aside and latched his teeth onto Szayel's neck, biting down hard enough to draw a trickle of blood. Grimmjow let out a moan of pleasure as the sweetness of a Natural Beta's blood filled his mouth.

"I should have fucked you years ago," Grimmjow growled in his ear.

He shivered, and his trembling only increased as Grimmjow tore his clothing off and the sand began to rub into his chest. He wanted this so badly, and yet, as he was pressed into the ground with the panting of another above him, a bolt of terror shot through him and his body instantly went limp. He automatically adjusted his neck for better access. A whimper escaped his throat and all movement above him suddenly stopped. It hardly relaxed him. When H'tsu had stopped moving it was because Szayel had done something wrong, and pain usually followed quickly. He tried to remind himself that this was not H'tsu, but it didn't help as his mind reeled back to the weeks of pain, humiliation, and devastation H'tsu had put him through. His entire body shook in fright and another whimper escaped his throat, just the way H'tsu had liked it.

A hand landed softly on his lower back and began to rub it soothingly. He stilled at the odd touch. H'tsu had never touched him softly and it helped to drag his mind out of the horrendous memories.

"Szayel, do you want to go through with this?" Grimmjow asked hesitantly.

"_Ichigo certainly has changed both of us,__"_ Szayel couldn't help but to think.

The old Grimmjow would never have paused and would never have cared that he was suddenly having a panic attack in the middle of the ritual. No, the old Grimmjow would have just continued with the mating regardless of how he was responding to it. However, he didn't. Grimmjow had to be fighting his Instinct tooth-and-nail to have stopped midway. Szayel was a little surprised that Grimmjow had even noticed his distress, but then, he hadn't exactly expected to be in this position at this point in the evening either.

His eyes were open, H'tsu had always punished him harshly if they were closed, so he managed to catch sight of Ichigo looking at him with a great deal of concern, the journal he had been reading completely forgotten. It seemed like the Hybrid was holding himself back from intervening in the struggle before him. It was Ichigo's worry and willingness to stop whatever was going to happen that really pricked at Szayel's pride and helped him get a grip on his reactions.

"_I can do this, I won__'__t let that bastard win,__"_ he mentally growled at himself. It didn't help much. H'tsu had trained his body a little too well and the shivers, while they became less violent, didn't cease.

Grimmjow suddenly flipped him over onto his back and he found himself staring into deep, blue eyes. He froze as he stared into those pools, showing a mixture of lust and concern. That warm hand returned, rubbing soothing circles over his thigh before moving over to stroke his now completely deflated shaft. He hardly noticed that, his entire focus was on those amazing blue eyes, not gold or any other colour that could be confused for it, blue, surrounded by light tan skin, not shockingly white. There was nothing in Grimmjow's appearance or posture that could ever be mistaking for H'tsu.

Slowly, his body relaxed and the pleasure that hand was giving him started to register. His eyes partially drifted shut and his hips slowly rose as he tried to get more of that hand around his flesh. A mouth fell upon his nipple and began to suck it softly before moving to the other, and then slowly across his chest and up to his neck, which he obediently bared without a second thought. The soft touches and gentle nips continued for a while until the tension in his frame had eased somewhat and his mind became aware of nothing but what the other was doing to please him.

He was once more manoeuvred onto his chest, but the soft touches and nips continued, keeping him relaxed. Where his daughter had inherited her ability to purr became suddenly very clear as his own throat vibrated gently. He didn't even know he _could_ purr as an Arrancar; the situation had never arisen where he might have wanted to do so.

The hand softly stroking his ass disappeared for a moment before an oil-drenched finger probed his entrance and began to gently prepare him. H'tsu had only ever done such a thing three times that he could recall and not very kindly at that. In fact, the 66% of time had been only because Ichigo had made it clear that his Hollow had better damn well do it.

When the fingers disappeared and nails dug into his hip pulling his ass into the air he couldn't help but send once last, lust-hazed, thankful look towards Ichigo for permitting this to happen. Ichigo caught his eyes and offered him a smile of encouragement.

He had unconsciously braced himself to the stab of pain he was expecting. H'tsu had always entered him in a single, violent thrust that had, more often than not, tore his insides.

"Relax," Grimmjow lust drenched voice growled from over his shoulder.

The hands massaged his hip and Szayel forced himself to take a deep breath, mentally slapping himself again for letting H'tsu's training override him. He rested his head between his forearms and took another deep breath as those hands gently stroked and squeezed his ass.

At last, his body quit trembling and he felt the tip of Grimmjow's hardened shaft probe at his entrance before slowly forcing its way in. Once the head was past that first ring of muscle, his soon to be Alpha actually paused and waited a moment while his body adjusted to the intrusion.

It started slow, a simple rocking motion, with each thrust forward forcing more flesh inside of him until Grimmjow finally fully seated himself. Another pause, and then the pace quickened. This was nothing like what he was used to; H'tsu had made sure to hurt him as much as possible and his first mating had been as an Adjuchas. The moment Grimmjow's shaft nailed his prostate he was completely lost in a sea of bliss. Nails raked his skin as they mated but the lacerations were shallow, leaving a trail of beaded blood in their wake instead of the deep cuts he was accustomed to receiving. Szayel barely noticed them, lost as he was in the sea of pleasure that each strike on his prostate gave him.

The training area was soon filled with pants, moans, and the sound of skin slapping against skin as Grimmjow thrust into him. He had no idea how long the mating lasted. He only knew that he never wanted it to end and that when the former Espada above him suddenly reared back and gave a shout as he came, Szayel realized that it was the first time anyone had ever seen to his own release, his semen spilling over the hand pumping his shaft to drench the sand beneath him.

Grimmjow's reiatsu-infused essence filled him and he felt his insides begin the familiar motions of forming a new cub. For several minutes he just lay there, basking in the afterglow of the most mind-blowing sex he'd ever had (not a difficult feat giving his history) and the feeling of a new life forming within him. He'd known mentally that sex could be amazing, had witnessed others proving it true, but this was the first time he'd ever experienced it himself.

Grimmjow was nibbling on his neck and he unconsciously tilted his head to give his latest Alpha full, obedient access. Grimmjow gave off a growl of pleasure and those teeth once more latched onto the small nip they had created earlier, drawing more beads of blood and pulling another moan out of the new Alpha.

As the euphoria wore off, Szayel's mind slowly began to reboot and put things together. He was surprised that, in the midst of mating, Grimmjow had noticed and even addressed his mini panic attack, taking the time to relax him and make the mating as different from what H'tsu had done to him as could be achieved while continuing the act. If this was normal sex he was definitely going to look forward to having his markers refreshed, although he very much doubted it would ever be at the same time as Ichigo got his refreshed. He was only the secondary Beta, while Grimmjow would make sure his markers remained refreshed, that would be the only time they would be together. Not that the idea of a threesome didn't intrigue him, but it just wasn't in Ichigo's nature to share _that_ much. He was actually surprised that Ichigo had even agreed to share his mate int eh first place. Both Grimmjow and Ichigo seemed far more monogamous than not.

Still, he couldn't help but to admire Ichigo for having killed so many birds with a single stone. He had noticed the tension between the Alpha pair. Ichigo simply could not act as a proper Beta and, as a result, Grimmjow's Instinct was going crazy. He had also been pining after having another cub. Now, not only did Grimmjow have a proper Beta to help slake his needs, but the dominant pair was also granting him another cub. This would also mean his milk would be in and ready by the time Ichigo's cub was laid. It had taken a bit when the triplets were born and they had refused the formula. It had been a very stressful 48 hours and after that they made sure that there was a supply of stored, pumped milk just in case an accident happened again. The cubs had accepted formula after three months, much to his relief as feeding three cubs was exhausting. Cachorro and Hijastro had breastfed for two years before accepting solids. He'd had some sore nipples for some time.

Grimmjow finally seemed to come off his own high and untangled their bodies. A bit of his blood was still on his new Alpha's lips and he averted his gaze with a shiver, reminded all too easily of another Hollow who's lips his blood once graced. Even though H'tsu and Grimmjow looked nothing alike, the old memory still came back and his eyes fell upon the scars on his arms.

"Is something wrong?" Ichigo questioned concerned as the Pack Alpha joined them.

"No… I… thank you," he turned his gaze back to them, letting a smile touch his lips and a hand fell upon his churning stomach.

He could tell that hadn't fooled Ichigo, but the Hybrid let it drop, shrugged and gave him a smile of his own.

"It's the least we could do. Unlike Grimmjow here, I am not so possessive," Ichigo shot his mate a fond look.

"Can it Kurosaki. I still got enough energy to throw you down too."

If Grimmjow meant for his retort to silence Ichigo, it failed miserably.

"Hmm, my markers do need to be refreshed, and there was that thing you promised you were going to do to me the next time we took a shower, and now looks like a good time," Ichigo taunted seductively.

Szayel could use a shower too. He was covered in sand, blood, sweat and cum, and for once it was in a good way. His joints were still trembling a bit from the aftershocks of his orgasm so he was unsteady for the first dozen steps until his equilibrium recalibrated itself.

The amorous couple hardly noticed as he excused himself, gathered up his Zanpakuto, and headed up the stairs to take a shower completely nude, leaving a dripping trail of blood. He took his time in the shower, enjoying the feeling of hot water cleansing him of the filth covering his body and getting the sand out of his hair. Both hands massaged his stomach and he briefly wondered if he'd have more than one cub this time like Grimmjow. How was Hijastro going to feel about having another sibling, or rather, another sibling from his line? She had seemed happy when Ichigo announced his pregnancy, but she was used to sharing her sire in the same way that Cachorro was used to sharing Grimmjow with the triplets. True, he had given his attention to the other cubs, but when it was 'family time', it was just the two of them. She'd never displayed jealousy before and he hoped she wouldn't start now.

His nest was nice and soft as he crawled into it, his shower-heated body warming it comfortably and he drifted off into a slumber. The coiling sensation in his stomach reminded him that, soon, he would have another cub of his own and this time it was with a sire he knew would care for him properly in a pack he knew would defend him and his cub to the death. No Hollow could ever hope for a more stable and safe environment in which to have cubs.

* * *

><p>I thought about giving Cachorro and Hijastro new names, but I was worried about confusing the reader. The next chapter is halfway done so hopefully it will be up in about two weeks time.<p>

This will not turn into a threesome, more along the lines of granting Szayel another cub, not to mention making sure his milk comes in, as well as soothing Grimmjow's Alpha instincts since Ichigo is failing to act like a proper Beta, but than when did Ichigo ever do things the proper way?

The cubs are still very animal like, but do recall they have opposable thumbs. They are just old enough to start a bit of schooling, which would be in house. It's not like they could go to public school after all, not to mention Szayel would be horrified at the lack of knowledge the teacher has compared to his own.

With which particular development are you upset about inominatenoname? There are several going on.

I swear I am not stalking you Blackstorm. I have no idea how these updates always tend to coincide with down times, but I am pleased they bring a smile


	43. Visitation

Visitation

After even so little a time as two days Ichigo noticed the change in both Grimmjow and Szayel.

Szayel was acting very much like Grimmjow did when he was pregnant with the occasional relapse into how H'tsu had trained him. Ichigo was the one who corrected the behaviour when he noticed it, reminding Szayel that he was safe from the hollow and didn't need to act liked a whipped, whimpering dog. The drain was noticeable right away and within a few days he was drained.

Grimmjow was puffed up like a bloody peacock strutting his feathers and hovered over the both of them, although most Alpha displays of dominance were initiated with Szayel rather than with him. Having a submissive, properly behaved Beta around had soothed the living hell out of Grimmjow's Instincts. Ichigo was thankful for that because there was no way in hell he would be able to act the way Szayel was, what with the bearing of throat and belly every time Grimmjow entered the room, not to mention the drooped posture and constantly keeping ones eyes averted.

It was nice seeing Szayel no longer mopping about and two more journals had quickly been started. One was recording his second pregnancy while the other seemed to be a study on the affects having a proper, non abusive Alpha had in getting over the mental damages H'tsu had left behind.

"_With all the journals he is keeping it__'__s a wonder he doesn__'__t have a pen in his hand at all times,__"_ Ichigo couldn't help but to think with a chuckle.

With both of them now impregnated Grimmjow had forced Yylfordt to return to the living realm, which meant that Tesra and Ternero had followed. Kisuke took over the continued renovations of Las Noches for now while the pack settled down to defend the nesting duo.

Ichigo half expected Yylfordt to take the opportunity to mate with Tesra again, but neither one showed signs or interest in mating even after Ichigo had made certain to make it clear that he had no problems with it. As Pack Alpha they required his permission to mate before doing so least they upset him. He made it clear that he had no qualms about anyone mating whenever they felt like it so long as the mating was as consensual as Hollows could get.

A knock on the door in the proper code indicated his family had arrived. He hadn't seen them in three days so they didn't know about Szayel yet, or that Yylfordt, Tesra and Ternero had returned. He felt Isshin, Karin and Yuzu enter the den, followed by Orihime, Rukia, who he was positive was Jushiro and…. damn he sucked at reading reiatsu, but whoever the last person to enter the den was as powerful as Jushiro was and somewhat familiar.

The new comer had everyone's hackles up so that meant the others didn't recognize who it was either. Ichigo rose to his feet with the intent to escort their guest in, but a firm hand landed on his shoulder and sapphire eyes threatened him with bodily harm if he even so much as _thought_ about bringing himself and, by extension, their cub anywhere near an unknown, potential threat.

He almost laughed, but forced himself to stifle it for Grimmjow's sake and settled back comfortably on the couch instead. His family was approaching the main den while Orihime and their Shinigami guests remained by the door for now, no doubt waiting for the all clear.

"Good afternoon," Isshin greeted cheerfully.

Six screams of delight echoed through the large chamber as all six cubs raced towards the newcomers. It took a few minutes for the excitement to die down a bit and Isshin to extract himself from the pile of excited cubs and their Aunts, both genetic and surrogate.

"Who else is at the door?" Grimmjow questioned with just a touch of threat.

"I am sure you recognize Jushiro, Rukia and Orihime, the last one is Shunsui, if you will permit him in."

It took a moment for Ichigo to put a face to the name.

"I haven't see him in some time. What brings him by?" Ichigo asked curiously.

"I am not sure," Isshin honestly responded. "He's fairly trustworthy though so I didn't think it would hurt, but it's your den."

Silence, from the adults at least as his sisters and the cubs were still having an excited conversation, filled the room for a moment while Ichigo gave his pack a once over to see how they were handling the intruder to their den. Grimmjow looked slightly defensive and Szayel looked ready to bolt, but Tesra and Yylfordt seemed uncaring and the cubs couldn't care less.

"It shouldn't be a problem, providing he follows the proper etiquette until everyone gets use to his presence," Ichigo authorized.

Grimmjow sent him an annoyed look and Ichigo held back a sigh. That was just the whole 'whose Alpha' thing going off and he knew his Mate would get over it quickly. He really should have thought about letting Grimmjow top him a bit more thoroughly. He would have to remember that for next time, if there was one.

Isshin left to collect the guest still at the door while Karin and Yuzu herded the pack of cubs over to the Jungle Gym and got them settled so they could be introduced to the newcomer. That plan pretty much failed when Jushiro walked through the door. All six cubs rushed towards the Shinigami with another round of squeals, completely ignoring the newcomer, or at least 5 of them ignored Shunsui. Cachorro kept himself between his siblings and the gaudily dressed stranger with his hackles slightly up and a suspicious eye on the intruder.

"Well, I see you weren't lying about this part, Jushiro," Shunsui chuckled as he watched the cubs swarm his childhood friend.

"That's because he spoils them rotten every time he comes over," Ichigo called over.

"And what's your name?" Shunsui asked in a cutesy voice. He bent down so he was eye level with Cachorro and offered him his hand to sniff, just as he'd been instructed to do.

Cachorro didn't answer, but he did sniff the hand suspiciously before lunging forward and biting it.

"Ouch," Shunsui complained, but he didn't move his hand. Instead, he continued to meet Cachorro's challenging gaze.

Jushiro stifled his laughter to spare his friends feelings, but most of the room didn't bother, especially Grimmjow, who was laughing happily while Ichigo just sighed in exasperation.

Ichigo stood up to detach his son from Shunsui's hand, but the Shinigami used his free hand to wave him off, all the while keeping his gaze calmly locked with Cachorro. After a moment, Cachorro released the hand and stood up, something he didn't do very often.

"Cachorro. You taste okay," he said.

"I am glad," Shunsui smiled amused. "These are your siblings?"

"Most of them," Cachorro agreed. "He's my cousin," Cachorro indicated Ternero. "And Hijastro is my part sister,"

At the sound of her name Hijastro came over to meet the newcomer as well while the other four continued to swarm Jushiro, who was moving the party over to his usual chair.

"And you are Hijastro?"

"Yes, I am," she answered in a soft, very feminine voice. "Who are you?" she questioned curiously.

"I am Kyoraku Shunsui," he introduced, offering the young girl a little bow. "How old are you?"

"Five," she answered smartly. "Are you a Shinigami?"

"I am," he answered.

"A good Shinigami or a bad Shinigami?" she demanded.

"A good one," he answered with a chuckle. "If I was a bad Shinigami I would probably be dead now. Your pack wouldn't willingly let a bad Shinigami get this close to you, would they?" he pointed out.

"Nope, they wouldn't," Hijastro chuckled in agreement.

"Why do you wear that hat?" Cachorro asked curiously.

"It keeps the sun out of my eyes, and I can pull it down so Yama-ji doesn't notice I am sleeping when he's having a long, boring meeting," he answered with a conspirator-like whisper.

Both cubs got a laugh out of that response.

"Do you like my hat?" he asked.

"It's sort of cool," Cachorro agreed in that way all boys did when they wanted to seem nonchalant over something they deemed exceptionally cool.

"Why don't you try it on?" Shunsui took his hat off and plopped it on Cachorro's head.

It was too big, but that didn't seem to deter the cub any.

"Wow, it does cover your eyes so people can't tell your ignoring them," Cachorro laughed.

"Why do you wear a girls kimono?" Hijastro asked.

"Because it distracts people into thinking I am a silly nobody so they let their guard down. But mainly, because I like it," he answered. "Do you like it?" he questioned.

"I think it's really pretty," she admitted.

"Well, I suppose it's only fair to let you try it on since I let your brother have my hat," he commented as he whipped it around to rest over her own shoulders. "But don't tell the rest of your sibling or I might end up going home naked."

"It smells like you, and grass," she noted happily as she nuzzled into the soft fabric. "And something else," she sniffed the cloth again, trying to determent the unfamiliar scent.

"Uh, you are too young to be familiar with the last one," he noted sheepishly. "It does spend a lot of time on the grass."

"Why?" she questioned.

"Because laying on your back in the best way to watch the clouds drift by."

Both cubs raced back to their parents to show them the items they had procured from him, Hijastro being careful not to trip over the large amount of lose fabric. Shunsui rose and followed more slowly in their wake with a wide grin of amusement. Children, regardless of species, were a marvel. Jushiro had finished handing out most of his pile of gifts so the younger cubs were playing with their older cousin over by the large Jungle Gym, leaving Jushiro free for Hijastro and Cachorro to show him the things they had gotten from Shunsui.

"So?" Ichigo questioned.

"They are adorable, exactly as Jushiro has been boasting," Shunsui commented. "How many more do you got planned?"

"Two at least," Ichigo chuckled. "They should be here in less than two months."

That gave their guests pause and all eyes darted towards Szayel and Grimmjow.

"Don't look at me, he's the one whose ass got fu…" Grimmjow never finished his sentence as Karin elbowed him sharply in the side, before letting out a string of gibberish to avoid swearing herself as she rubbed her elbow vigorously.

"What the hell is your skin made of, adamantium?" she demanded in a growl.

"You're the idiot that elbowed me," he pointed out gruffly.

"Next time I won't catch your slip up and I'll enjoy watching Ichi-nii corner you like a frightened kitten," she shot back.

The two continued to bicker in the background as Ichigo clarified the situation for their guests.

"I'm the one carrying this time. Grimmjow already gave us four cubs so I thought it was only fair I have the next one. It was also a good time to see if it was even possible for me to carry."

"You're pregnant?" Rukia's eyes bulged as she looked at him in shock.

Jushiro and Shunsui were similarly surprised, but the two older and more experienced men were able to cover it better and recover more quickly while Rukia was still staring at him, mouth a gap like a goldfish.

"Yes," he answered, and that little smile touched his lips like it always did when he was reminded of the cub growing within him, or rather, the new reiatsu grown within his own.

"That is wonderful news," Jushiro was the first to break the new silence.

"It's crazy," Rukia shook her head. "How the hell did he win?" She demanded, pointing at Grimmjow.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Grimmjow growled.

"You know exactly what I mean," she scoffed.

The tension in the room rose steadily as Shinigami and Hollow glared at each other, neither one backing down.

"Oh, Tesra-san, Ishida-kun gave me more clothing for the cubs to try on," Yuzu declared brightly, indicating the bag she had brought in with her. "Can you help me round the little terrors up so we can put them on?" she questioned innocently.

"Of course," he offered her a small smile.

At the mere hint of 'dress up' most of the cubs scattered, letting out cries of alarm. The tension in the room visibly diminished as Yuzu and Tesra made a show of chasing down the cubs. Even Hijastro played keep away, despite the fact she loved dress up. Karin quickly joined into the game, as did Isshin, who chased his grandchildren about in a very comical fashion.

Ichigo sent the two Omega's a pleased smile, insanely proud of his sister for diffusing the situation with her friend in such a way that it left everyone's egos intact. He'd never really understood what it meant to be an Omega until he had watched the two of them diffuse the first issue that had come up.

"You do realize you are never getting your clothing back, right?" Ichigo asked.

"That's alright," he chuckled, taking a seat near Jushiro. "I can afford more."

"Please tell me there are not any more crosses on those damn things?" Szayel called after Yuzu.

"Umm….." Yuzu paused in her chasing of the cubs to offer him a sheepish smile.

Szayel let out a sigh of annoyance and shook his head in annoyance. "Dissection is too good for the boy," he grumbled.

"Don't say that Szayel-san," Yuzu sighed.

"Why? I agree with him," Karin grunted, making a scowling face at the first dress Yuzu had pulled out of the bag.

"You're so mean," Yuzu pouted. "We worked hard making these."

"I bet," Karin deadpanned.

"Szayel, is the 'you know what' ready?" Isshin asked, holding his youngest granddaughter and scratching her behind the ears.

"Yes, it is," he answered, before tossing a weary look at the newcomer.

"Good, good. Why don't we start with you two and do the cubs afterwards?"

"I suppose," Szayel sighed in agreement.

"Don't pretend you haven't spent every free moment in front of the damn monitors, and the rest of the time pining over the fact you weren't in front of them," Grimmjow scoffed. "Go, I'll be watching the cubs, and our guests," he ordered firmly.

"I'll go first," Ichigo volunteered, standing up and stretching.

"Do you mind if I attend?" Shunsui questioned.

"Not at all," Ichigo smiled at him.

Szayel also stood up and stretched, casting once last look at Hijastro before following Ichigo and Isshin into the lab. Shunsui came in last and leaned against a wall out of the way as Isshin ran the tests over both pregnant males.

"So, how does it feel to be knocked up?" Shunsui asked curiously.

"A little funky," Ichigo answered honestly. "Sort of like a tickle in my stomach. Until the egg emerges it's just reiatsu so there isn't actually anything physically there as we know it."

"Curious."

"Understandable," Szayel interjected. "As you should well know, Hollows live a very active life. Should an impregnated hollow need to fight a large stomach would be a major hindrance. Than, of course, there is the vigorous activity of hunting itself and bouncing any potential fetes about in the womb would be harmful to the unborn child. It's a very clever system actually."

"Kurotsuchi was commenting that all Adjucus are bisexual until evolving into Arrancar and Vasto Lorde," Shunsui commented.

Ichigo watched Szayel closely as the name was dropped, and the Scientist did stiffen with a flash of rage before forcing himself to calm down.

"That idiot is only partially right, and only had a hint of a clue due to stealing _**my**_ research," he growled. "In actual fact, only those of Adjucus level and higher can breed, and they are Hermaphrodites, not Bisexual. To be Bisexual would imply that they would have both male and female organs, which they do not. The reproductive system is the same for each Adjucus."

"Intriguing. Jushiro told me you were different."

"I am a Natural Born Beta. It means I am unique equipped to care for young, both mentally and physically. I have very little desire to show my worth by getting into pointless brawls and am capable of feeding my offspring where as others are not."

"He can breast feed," Ichigo commented before Shunsui could asked Szayel to elaborate as he could tell the Shinigami was confused.

The look that crossed Shunsui's face was amusing, and pulled a small laugh out of everyone present.

"Alright son, everything is looking perfectly healthy for my next Grandchild," Isshin gushed happily.

"Good to know," Ichigo grunted as he hopped off of the table and Szayel levered himself up. "If you two are alright, I am going to head back to the main den to make sure Rukia and Grimmjow aren't trying to kill each other."

Szayel shot him a panicked look, clearly not liking the idea of being left alone with the intruder and Isshin. Not that Szayel didn't trust and like Isshin, the man had saved his life and that of his cub, but there was no denying Shunsui's strength, even though he was doing his best to hide it.

Without his hat it was much harder for Shunsui to hide the look of interest that crossed his features at Szayel's reaction.

"You could stay and help your old man out," Isshin challenged instead.

Ichigo normally would have made some comment about how the last thing his father needed was help, especially around medical equipment, but he held the comment back. It was a simple, and yet effective, excuse for him to decide to remain after all.

"I suppose. I didn't go to medical school to _not _use the stuff I learned," he agreed.

"That's my boy," Isshin beamed at him.

Ichigo shook his head, but was honestly just pleased that was as far as Isshin's declaration of love went. He really did not feel like fending his father off, and felt even less like fending Grimmjow off from his father.

* * *

><p>Face it, you are all thinking how cute Cachorro would be with an oversized straw hat on his head. evil snicker.

Wow, I never expected the controversy that last Chapter was going to spark. I don't know if I should be upset over the negative feedback, or pleased with myself that I have caught so many people's attention that when a little event happens that sends their hackles up they protest against it, although I kind of suspect that a few might have been from the same person since they were done on different chapters. To everyone else who loved and actually _understood_ what was going on, thank you all so much for your wonderful feedback.

If you have ever had a child you know how terrifying those first forty eight hours are, especially if your milk is not in and/or your child is not capable of feeding. I could tell you that fear because I experienced it. My son had to live for an entire month with a tube down his nose to feed him because he was incapable of feeding on his own! In many other countries I would have been able to do nothing but suffer as I watched him die of starvation and listen to his slowly weakening cries. I can tell you now that if another person was capable of feeding him and the only way to make sure that such was possible was to impregnate that person I would definitely let my husband go at it. Parents would do almost anything for their child. Wet Nurses were used for centuries, and hell, probably still are in some countries.

In the end, this is no different than what Vanyel did for his friends. That is where I am going with this, assuming anyone is familiar with the Heralds of Vladimir series.

This is a gift fict for Black Storm and she loved it, so that's all that really matters in the end. And speaking of, for anyone familiar with my other fict, POV, she drew two wonderful pictures of Karin and Grimmjow. You can see them on her deviant art page. blackstormDOTdeviantartDOTco 


	44. Subterfuge

Subterfuge

The rest of the tests went well, even the cubs didn't put up too much of a fuss as they were each given their exams. Through it all Shunsui remained leaning against the wall with a small smile and answered any questioned Hijastro and Cachorro asked. Ternero was a little more shy and remained huddled close to Tesra. The triplets were turning out to be quite the handful and Szayel had to assist in keeping them under control. Hijastro was more than capable of going calmly through the test without needing her paw held and Cachorro was doing his best to look brave before his sister. It would simply not do to be outdone by a girl.

Jushiro had joined him leaning against the wall, a happy smile of his own on his face as they watched the chaos of the strange family, and it was strange. That really shouldn't have taken him too much by surprise given Isshin's genetic influence on a large number of them.

"They are adorable, aren't they?" Jushiro questioned.

"Exactly like you said," Shunsui agreed. "Where is Rukia?"

"Helping Karin and Yuzu prepare dinner. We have been invited to stay, but I declined. You know how irritable Yama-ji gets when we run late and your presence is making poor Szayel, Tesra and Yylfordt uncomfortable, more so the former two than the later."

Shunsui had noticed that as well. Szayel had damn near had a panic attack when Ichigo had said he was leaving the room earlier. Fortunately, Isshin had given everyone a way out that prevented prides from being stepped upon.

"You can stay if you want. They seem comfortable with you, and we both know that Yama-ji won't get mad at you if your late. He only gets upset with **me** because he thinks that I am out drinking and shirking my duties."

"Most of the time he's right," Jushiro pointed out dryly.

"Et tu Jushiro?"

Jushiro just shook his head and turned his attention back to the chaos that was six cubs and five adults trying to get the exams done. Szayel and Tesra could have both easily passed as human if you didn't know that the glasses and head charm were mask fragments and not the real thing. Grimmjow's mask was far more noticeable, as was his hollow hole depending on what he was wearing, but if you were looking at him from the one side you could also mistake him as human.

"Dinner's ready everyone!" Yuzu announced happily, than quickly ducked to the side as the cubs stampeded out of the lab.

"Stay, I know you want to," Shunsui pressured before Jushiro could attempt to say goodbye. "I'll cover for you," he insisted when Jushiro looked ready to protest.

"Alright, if you insist," Jushiro relented.

Everyone started to file out of the room until it was only himself and Isshin left, who was busy cleaning up the equipment. He pushed off from the wall with the intent to leave himself.

"Are you satisfied my son and his pack pose no danger to anyone, Shunsui?" Isshin questioned without bothering to turn around and face him.

"Hmm?"

"Yama-ji sent you here to ascertain the danger to Soul Soceity, didn't he," Isshin stated, setting down the tool he was currently sterilizing and picking up another.

Shunsui didn't answer and desperately wished he'd still had his hat so he could attempt to cover his face. He'd forgotten that Isshin knew that he was Yamamoto's personal executioner when the situation called for it. He hated the job with a passion, but there was simply no one else suited to do so. He could never let Retsu, a gentle healer, take the job as a woman's hand shouldn't be bloodied by assassination. Jushiro was too kind hearted and his health so delicate at times. There was no way Shunsui could place such a burden on his childhood friend. His friends know of course, but they were polite enough not to mention it and trusted that he would refuse, as he had a time or two such as in Urahara's case, if he felt Yamamoto was in the wrong.

"He did," Shunsui finally admitted. There was no point in trying to lie to Isshin over something the ex-Shinigami knew so well.

"You may add to the report that I will defend my son and grandchildren to the death. If anyone attempts to bring them harm I will raze Soul Society to the ground myself," Isshin finally turned to face him, his expression firm. "My son had done enough for you, leave him and his family in peace."

Shunsui had no doubt that Isshin meant every word he'd spoken, and Shunsui honestly agreed with him. Still, he had a duty to do.

"And if they do turn into a danger?" Shunsui questioned, not because he wanted to or even believed it would come to pass, but because he had to.

"Than I will deal with them myself," Isshin answered.

Shunsui did not doubt it and he could see the pain that response brought to Isshin. No one would want to have to kill a member of their own family, but Isshin had been a Shinigami once and he understood what duty was and how to do it, even when it was the most painful thing to do, so long as it was right.

"I would like to visit again."

"Ichigo would say you are welcome too. Hijastro and Cachorro certainly seemed to take a liking to you."

"How can I say no to a cub that thinks I taste good?" he questioned.

Just like that, most of the tension drained from the room.

"Indeed," Isshin agreed with a chuckle. "Although, you might want to keep that part out of your report to Yama-ji."

"Why? All kids explore the world with their mouths first. Surly you remember your own offspring doing the same."

"Yes, well, they were not from a line of creatures known to eat humans and Shinigami. How do you know about that anyway?" Isshin question curiously.

"Do you know how many younger brothers and sisters Jushiro has?" Shunsui questioned.

"I shudder at the thought that Jushiro was crazy enough to let you near them, especially his sisters."

"You wound me." Shunsui placed his hands over his heart. "Besides, I like my balls firmly attacked to my body, thank you very much, and dating them would be like dating my own sister in law or something," Shunsui shivered.

"I bet," Isshin deadpanned. "Shall I show you to the door?"

"Are you done cleaning up?"

Isshin indicated he was. Shunsui followed him to the door. They wished each other good night and Shunsui headed back to report. He did know one thing about this visit, and that was Ichigo and his family would have to royally fuck up for him to follow any orders to bring them harm. He had suspected as much. After all, if Jushiro liked them, than they deserved to be liked. As kind hearted as his friend was, no one could pull the wool over his eyes so if they were safe in Jushiro's book, than they were safe in his, regardless of Kurotsuchi's continued raves.

(POV)

Dinner was always an interesting affair. Honestly, Ichigo wouldn't trade it for anything as his entire family, biological and surrogate, and a good number of his friends sat around the table and proceeded to eat dinner while chatting happily. The triplets wore more of their food than they ate but Ichigo was use to that by now. They would throw all the cubs into bath after dinner or, more accurately, try to keep up as the cubs bolted for the pool.

"Oi, you drifting Ichigo?" Grimmjow questioned.

"Just thinking," he answered his mate with a smile.

"Well stop it," Grimmjow scowled.

"As if you could make me," Ichigo scoffed.

In his mind he heard H'tsu grumble, but the hollow half of his soul had been rather quiet after the near forty hours of screeching he'd done after Ichigo had let Grimmjow top him. He still heard the odd snarl of discontent from H'tsu, bit otherwise the hollow half of his powers had been rather quiet. It was as much a welcomed relief as it was concerning.

"Want to spar after we put the cubs to bed?" Ichigo questioned. "I've been getting restless."

"Sure," Grimmjow smirked at him lecherously.

"With our swords…"

The smirk widened.

"Zanpakuto," Ichigo clarified with a growl.

"I suppose we can use those too."

Ichigo let out a sigh and shook his head, but had to admit that any training they did was likely to end up in sex anyway. Alpha or Beta, Grimmjow was a very amorous lover and Ichigo couldn't deny that he enjoyed that in his mate. A little after battle sex wouldn't be a bad thing so long as the cubs were in bed at the time and not likely to walk in on them.

"What are we going to name the new cub?" Ichigo questioned, changing the subject to one more appropriate for little ears.

"Hmm, Cachorro I think. It is just about time the our eldest earn his name," Grimmjow answered, also turning serious, at least for now.

"True," Ichigo agreed. "Still, it will take some getting use too. He's gone by Cachorro for five years now. I suppose Hijastro should earn her name as well huh?"

"Yes, they are both ready, as is Ternero."

Ichigo knew earning their names was an important thing to hollow cubs, but he wasn't sure how he felt about the process. Normally they would earn their names hunting in the dessert of Hueco Mundo as they took down other hollows as their prey, but that was not going to happen. Over his dead body was any of his cubs doing such a thing and he said as much.

Grimmjow looked about ready to argue but paused and nodded his head in agreement. Neither cub was an Adjucus and while they did enjoy games of predator and prey, none of the cubs showed killing intent, not yet. The little pet lizard was a prime example. Wait, predator and prey! Ichigo smiled as the thought came to him.

"You got an idea?" Grimmjow questioned.

"A game of predator and prey, with one of us as the prey. They could go all out without hurting either one of us. Doing so would permit them to show off their skills and personalities without putting anyone in harms way."

Grimmjow thought about it for a moment. "We could set up a large environment in the training room with different obstacles for them to overcome. Various traps and dangers. I like it."

"I think we should let Hijastro and Cachorro run it together. They seem to work well together," Ichigo added. "And we would only have to do it once. Yylfrodt or Tesra can test Ternero on his own afterwards if this works out."

Dinner was done by the time they finished setting down the basics for their plan, one Szayel agreed to when they brought him in on the idea, not that he had much choice in the matter but Ichigo liked to be fair and get his input. In fact, the scientist's eyes lit up and he started going on about various obstacles while sketching out a rough design on a napkin with one of the many pens he always seemed to have on him at all times.

"Did you want us to see to the cub's bath, Ichi-nii?" Yuzu questioned sometime after dessert when it was clear the rest of them were rather distracted.

"If you wouldn't mind," he smiled at his sister.

Both of his sisters loved bath time with the cubs so much that they kept several sets of bathing suits here and even had their own towels.

"Of course not," she explained. "Come on kids, bath time," she called.

There was a stampede away from the kitchen table and down the hall to the bathroom. Yuzu, Karin and Tesra followed in the cubs wake to make sure no one drowned in all the excitement.

"I should return to Soul Society. Thank you for dinner," Jushiro thanked.

"No problem. You heading out too Rukia, Orihime?" he questioned his friends.

"I got to work in the morning," Orhime answered. "And Ishida-kun is going to take me out for lunch again."

"I got to head back too. Paperwork and all that piles up if you take too much time off," Rukia smiled.

"I am just glad Byakuya took that stick out of his ass and let you finally get promoted," Ichigo commented.

"Don't talk about Nii-sama like that," Rukia railed on him. "He was just being protective of me because he loves me," she huffed.

"Of course," Ichigo smirked. "Later than," he waved to his departing friends.

"I should return home as well," Isshin sighed. "I got to get the clinic ready for tomorrow morning. You know, you could always come and help your old man out like a good son should," Isshin ribbed.

"I'll think about it," he grunted.

"OH MASAKII, OUR BOY DOESN'T LOVE ME, EVEN AFTER PAYING FOR…"

"Can it, Goat-face," Ichigo scowled as he kicked his father in the face, sending him flying onto the wall and silencing the retarded rant. "Idiot," he muttered.

"Well played my son." Isshin peeled himself from the wall before waving his hand in farewell and heading out himself.

"So, shall we leave the nursemaid to his designs and head on downstairs for that sparing match?" Grimmjow questioned with a smirk.

"Only if you promise not to go easy on me because you think being pregnant has made me any less the Pack Alpha," he declared.

"Wouldn't dream of taking you easy."

"Must everything with you be a sexual innuendo."

"No." "Yes."

The first was Grimmjow sounding affronted, the second was Szayel who answered softly.

"Someone need a reminder of their place?" Grimmjow questioned with a snort.

It had meant to be a good natured barb, but Szayel shock his head meekly and dropped his posture, appearing as submissive as he could. Ichigo sighed and shook his head. They had made strides in breaking Szayel of the habits H'tsu had beaten into him over the years, but there was clearly still work that needed to be done. Being pregnant again had brought most of the shivering, whimpering behaviour forward. Ichigo guessed it was probably because he'd been pregnant when H'tsu had broken him and being so again brought forth the memories of the harsh torture and rape he'd endured.

"Can the shivering crap," Grimmjow ordered firmly. "You were an Espada, one of the strongest Arrancar, so stop acting like a whipped dog when you know neither one of us is going to whip you."

Szayel nodded his head and adjusted his posture so he wasn't cringing anymore. It was still submissive, but it was respectful submissive, not terrified meek submissive.

"Better," Grimmjow said approvingly. "We are heading to the training room for a bit of sparing if anyone's looking for us."

A submissive nod of the head.

"Can you make sure the cubs make it to bed on time if we aren't done by than?" Ichigo questioned.

"I will," he assured them, his voice submissive, but at least it was steady.

Assured that the situation had been delta with, Ichigo and Grimmjow headed down to the training room. Now would be a good test to see how much of his reiatsu the cub had drained, if any at all.

"Ready, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow questioned with a wide grin of anticipation.

"Just don't cry when you get your ass kicked," Ichigo responded, drawing Zangetsu and switching over into Bankai.

Grimmjow attacked first, swinging Pantera around in an arc. Ichigo brought Zangetsu up to block and sparks flew as silver and black blades met. Back and forth they fought, slowly warming up as they did so. As their muscles warmed up and Ichigo tested his reiatsu, which felt fine, they slowly picked it up a notch.

As Szayel had pointed out, right now the cub was just reiatsu, energy inside of him. He didn't need to worry about the cub being harmed as there was no physical body **to be **harmed. The only thing they had to make sure was that he didn't burn his reiatsu out, but he doubted that would be much of a problem.

Muscles warmed up, they took the fight up to the next level. The waves of reiatsu erupted from Grimmjow as he changed forms. Ichigo smirked and pulled his hand across his face. Nothing happened. Blinking in surprise, he tried to summon his mask again, but once more nothing happened.

"You getting cold feet? What the hell are you waiting for?" Grimmjow challenged.

"It's not working," Ichigo frowned, trying once more with no success. _"__Zangetsu, H__'__tsu?__"_he questioned concerned.

H'tsu mumbled something, but Ichigo couldn't make it out. His hollow half sounded like he was half asleep.

"_He is tired from feeding the cub,__"_Zangetsu answered.

"_Feeding the cub?__"_Ichigo questioned. He was confused for a moment before dawning arose.

The cub was technically a hollow, so it would make sense that the cub would consume the hollow part of his reiatsu while not touching the Shinigami part. No wonder H'tsu had been so silent lately, he was exhausted. In an odd sort of way it was as if _H__'__tsu_ was the one pregnant, not him. He couldn't help it, he broke out into laughter.

"Oi, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow questioned concerned, dropping his guarded stance.

"Sorry." Ichigo caught his breath. "It would seem that I can't summon my mask because H'tsu has been completely drained feeding the cub. That's why he's been so quiet and why my reiatsu hadn't really drained too much," he answered.

Grimmjow stared at him for a moment, before bursting into laughter himself. Ichigo heard H'tsu mutter something unpleasant in the back of his mind, which he didn't decide to share.

"Well, can't be helped. Maybe it will be an even fight now," Ichigo smirked.

"Even!" Grimmjow spluttered. "I'll show you even," he growled as he launched himself forward.

Ichigo brought Zangetsu up to block the claws aiming for his throat before shifting to bring Zangetsu about to block the kick aiming for his side. It was much more difficult to keep up to Grimmjow's speed now and Ichigo felt the sweat begin to roll down his body. It was a good handicap and he was enjoying the battle immensely. His entire world narrowed down to the strikes coming towards his body and the black blade that wasn't just an extension of his arm, but his very soul. Grimmjow was similarly starting to sweat heavily as the two of them clashed all out and before long they were both panting for breath and bleeding from numerous scratches.

"We should probably call it here. Wouldn't want you to burn up too much reiatsu," Grimmjow declared.

"Good idea," Ichigo agree, not because he felt like he couldn't keep going, but because he could tell that Grimmjow was reaching the end of his endurance and it was a convenient excuse to spare his mate his pride. "We should probably clean up though. Hot spring or shower?" he questioned.

"Hot spring," Grimmjow answered, also returning to normal as he sheathed his own blade.

They walked over to the hot spring, making sure to cool down properly so muscles wouldn't stiffen. They even actually just relaxed in the water for fifteen minutes before Grimmjow sidled up sit in front of him. Ichigo ignored his mate, continuing to stare up at the star lit false sky. It hadn't taken much work to convince Kisuke to change the roof here to match the weather outside. Perpetual sunlight was extremely uncomfortable for his hollow pack mates who were use to the everlasting nights of Hueco Mundo, and Ichigo found it aggravating at times as well.

A hand wrapped around his currently flaccid flesh, but it didn't stay that way for long as Grimmjow expertly stroked him. Ichigo continued to pretend to ignore him, mentally forcing his hips to remain still and not thrust into the inviting fingers stimulating him. Grimmjow's lips fell upon his skin, nipping and kissing lightly before enveloping a nipple. Teeth and tongue rolled the bud around until it was as stiff and hard as the shaft between his legs. Satisfied, that nipping, kissing mouth traveled across his chest to get the other nipple stimulated.

Ichigo brought his hands up to rest upon his mate's shoulders, nails digging sharply into the flesh until ten small streams of blood began to run down Grimmjow's shoulders. Grimmjow let out a groan and moved his mouth up to Ichigo's. Their tongues battled and points were awarded every time one made it past the opponent's defences and into the opposition's mouth. Grimmjow had gotten much better at the game, but Ichigo was still the master and he wrestled his Mate's tongue into submission.

Grimmjow's hands had moved from his shaft to rest on his shoulders and ten, small streams of blood ran down Ichigo's own shoulders, a matching set with the ones he had given his mate. Grimmjow had moved fully into his lap now and ground their bodies together, thick arousals rubbing pleasurable against each other.

Ichigo moved his mouth from Grimmjow's, licking and nipping his way down to the juncture of his Mate's neck before sinking his teeth in. Grimmjow let out a whining moan and bucked in his lap. Ichigo let out a moan of his own as a small trickle of blood flowed into his mouth. Pregnant or not, he could never get enough of that flavour.

"You sure you ain't a Natural Beta yourself?" Ichigo groaned, desperately sucking more blood.

"Fuck you…ung… Kuro…." Grimmjow gasped, unable to finish his curse, as Ichigo thrust his hips more sharply against him while digging his nails into Grimmjow's rear and making another deep love bite. "If I was… shit… you would not… fuck…be preg… damn it." He couldn't finish.

Ichigo saved his mate's pride by not pointing out that the only reason he was pregnant now was because he had **let** Grimmjow top him. "I guess," Ichigo agreed instead, taking another nip along Grimmjow's collar bone.

Ichigo flipped them around so Grimmjow was now the one against the edge of the hot spring. He increased the pace of their grinding while continuing to maul Grimmjow's neck while his mate leaned against the ledge, desperately thrusting back and letting out loud moans of his own while clawing up Ichigo's back.

Ichigo had to hold back and remind himself that he was suppose to be the one penetrated because right now all he would think about was how nice it would be to be buried inside of his mate.

"_Unless_…." Ichigo smirked as a thought came to him.

Grimmjow would still need to top him so the markers were refreshed, but there was no reason why Ichigo couldn't top afterwards, or even before, so long as they use a little bit of protection so they both didn't end up pregnant. That would really screw up Grimmjow's instincts.

"I want you," Ichigo groaned. "And I know just the way to take you," he growled.

"Oi, your markers need to be refreshed," Grimmjow pointed out, but Ichigo noticed his Mate didn't protest the idea. If anything, Grimmjow's skin flushed and Ichigo had a feeling it wasn't from the heat of the pool.

"You want to go first, or should I?" Ichigo questioned lustfully.

"Me."

"Here, or the nest?"

"Nest, that way we won't need to move afterwards to break the mood."

"Nest it is."

Ichigo didn't even bother gathering their clothes, neither did Grimmjow. By now the cubs would be sleeping and his sisters gone home. They encountered no one on their rush back to the den. Ichigo tackled Grimmjow to the nest as they entered and once more attacked his mate, nipping the flesh and licking the welling beads of blood. Grimmjow's claws dug deep into his shoulders and raked down his back. Their bodies rubbed desperately together. Ichigo reluctantly gave up his feast to more firmly straddle Grimmjow's hips, reaching over to grab the jar of lube as he did so. He'd learned his lesson the hard way about having sex without lubricating.

Grimmjow let his own claws trail down to his hips and massaged them while staring up at him lustfully. Ichigo returned the look before encircling his hands around his Mate's thick arousal and started to massage the oil in. Grimmjow let out a moan and thrust up into Ichigo's hands as he continued to pleasure him. Once Grimmjow was nice and slick, Ichigo moved up and rested his own hands on either side of Grimmjow's head. They shared another battle of tongues before Ichigo slowly took his mate in, the feeling of his passageway stretching sent shivers throughout his body. He waited a moment once his ass was flush against Grimmjow's hips, before he started to move.

Grimmjow didn't let him do all the work either, thrusting up into him and helping him balance by digging his claws into Ichigo's hips. It took a minute, but eventually the angle was right and Ichigo let out a loud moan of his own as his prostate was finally brushed passed. The next thrust had the angle proper and this time he let out cry of pleasure.

Sweat joined the water left over from their bath and the room was full of the sounds of flesh meeting, moans and pants. Ichigo could feel his own release coming, but he had a reputation to maintain, and a strong desire to feel his Mate surrounding him, so he grounded himself and concentrated on contracting his lower muscles so they wrapped more tightly around Grimmjow's shaft.

"Fuck…" Grimmjow cursed sharply as Ichigo's insides constricted the shaft buried inside of him.

Ichigo paused for a moment, enjoying the sight of his mate panting desperately beneath him, skin glistening with sweat, before continuing at a much faster pace and kept clenching those muscles.

With a loud cry, Grimmjow exploded inside of him, his entire body tense. When the jets of cum finally subsided, Grimmjow collapsed against the blankets and pillows that made up their nests, panting for all he was worth. Ichigo leaned down and kissed him gently, mindful of the fact Grimmjow was panting for breath. He left Grimmjow inside of him for now while he reached over to the small wooden box that held their supply of condoms. With the ease of having done this hundreds of times, and it probably was hundreds by now with how amorous his lover tended to be, he slipped one on. Only now did he briefly untangle their bodies.

Grimmjow had gotten his breathing back under control and looked up at him through half lidded eyes. "You do realize this is unprecedented?" he questioned.

"Since when have I ever done things the normal way?"

"Good point."

"Besides, I thought you all claimed that Arrancar didn't really have a set of habitual rules since the species is so young. Who's to say we are breaking anything?"

"Just shut up and fuck me already. I hate to admit it, but I miss the feeling of you being inside of me."

"Not as much as I miss it," Ichigo smirked. "And while I don't mind letting you have the top, I have to admit I much prefer to be the one inside of you."

"Yeah, well…. I think I prefer it that way too," he grudgingly admitted softly.

"Hmm?" he questioned slightly surprised.

"You make being topped worth it," he admitted reluctantly with a grumble and slight blush. "Besides, fucking you is too much work. You set the bar too god damn high over the years!" Grimmjow scowled.

Ichigo chuckled and lifted Grimmjow's hips up. He entered slowly, sighing in bliss as the tight heat enveloped him. Grimmjow let out a moan of his own as Ichigo seated himself. He shifted once he was fully seated, than sent his Mate a vicious smirk before pulling out and hitting the prostate dead on as he thrust back in.

Grimmjow let out a slew of curses and squirmed beneath him. Ichigo didn't relent, but pounded into him with quick, deep thrusts that had Grimmjow panting rather quickly. More lines were added to his skin as Grimmjow's claws scrambled for purchase, this time along his arms and chest. He knew his Mate was exhausted from the first round so he didn't torment Grimmjow for too long before shuddering and reaching his own climax.

They remained entangled for some time afterwards, both of them panting for breath. Ichigo suckled and nipped contently on the throat unconsciously bared for him until they had both recovered.

They headed to the bathroom to clean up, both too exhausted to do much more than take a five minute shower to wash the sweat and semen off of their skin. They lay curled together afterwards, sleep creeping up on them quickly.

"Love you," Ichigo whispered.

"Hmm," Grimmjow agreed sleepily.

The former Espada's breathing evened out and Ichigo smiled happily down at his mate before letting his own eyes drift shut and slumber take him.

* * *

><p>Thank you all so much for the positive feed back and defending of my honour. I have never really been for the whole, only one person on top almost masterslave relationships I see so much here in the Grimm/Ichi world. I always planned to have them eventually even out and become THE ALPHA PAIR, but with Ichigo just being the more dominate in a relationship, almost like a pack of wolves. The Alpha Female is still top wolf, but she also still refers to her mate.

I have never heard of Hermaphrodite being a derogatory term. I personally love the word, it just roles nicely off the tongue and sounds kind of sexy to me. Hermaphroditism has many different levels depending on the type. It was the most accurate term for Adjucus as they, physically, don't have different genders here. They can all impregnate each other.

Arrancar are different and I am not sure there is a term for a species that clearly has two genders, but only the 'male' can impregnate both as a residual side effect of once having been of a single gender. The overall paragraph is rather messed up and I might go back and try to rework it. For now, let's just pretend Szayel was deliberately feeding Shunsui a line of BS mixed with truth to confuse the evil Shinigami.

As for Ichigo being pregnant, it's because the whole thing takes place on a reiatsu level and it's the reiatsu that sort of becomes pregnant, not the person. So if he were to sleep with say, Ishida or Byakuya, nothing would happen but great sex as Shingami and Humans do the whole egg, sperm thing being of one gender. Since higher level hollows are made up from thousands of individuals, and thus a mixture of genders, they no longer are a single, one sex person. That's why I made them the way I did here. So you could say it's the hollow part of Ichigo's reiatsu that's pregnant. I hope this makes sense.

No idea when the next chapter will be out. I have kind of been thinking about doing a Christmas special for the first time ever, full of sex, sex, and possibly, more sex. Anyone got any objections to that?

Have fun on your vacation Black Storm, just incase I don't get another chapter out before you have to leave. For those following POV, Part 2 is over 100 pages so far and the first round has been sent out for editing. I am still holding to my January release date and hope to have lots of Chapters ready and edited for the launch so I can continue with my somewhat normal trend of updates Black Fox tells me her interlude is coming along as well so stay tuned for updates.


	45. Tunnel

Tunnel

Szayel watched the Alpha pair retreat to the basement, all the while silently berating himself for, once again, letting H'tsu's training take over. It had been easier when he wasn't with cub. The hormonal changes that came over him while pregnant brought him right back to the weeks of hell H'tsu had put him through, no matter what he did. Every time Grimmjow looked the least bit annoyed or upset, be it mockingly or truly, his mind fell back to H'tsu's beatings and abuse, back to the mental and emotional agony of the miscarriages.

Mentally, he knew neither Ichigo nor Grimmjow would beat him or mate him so harshly blood would stream down his thighs from the unprepared penetration. He knew that, but it didn't stop the tremors, didn't stop his body reacting how H'tsu had trained it to. His instincts were setting back to the way he'd been forced to act the last time he was with cub and it was a constant struggle between his Intellect and his Instincts.

He hadn't even realized he was crying until a few wet splashes started to run the ink on the diagram he had been drawing on the napkin. He furiously blinked the tears away. Grimmjow was right. He'd been an Espada, one of the top ten strongest Arrancar in existence. Where was his pride?

"_Crushed, beneath H__'__tsu__'__s training,__"_he mentally answered himself.

No, not crushed, utterly obliterated. He would never be the man he was before, and honestly, he was not so sure he wanted to be. He had a pack now, one that would take care of him and his cubs, that treated him well and would not try to eat him in his sleep. Hell, he had cubs all around him. He wasn't just _trusted_ with them, he was _expected_ to be with them. And the data, oh the data he was gaining from them. He'd never had such exciting research subjects. He'd forgotten just how much he'd once loved children until Cachorro had first nestled against his chest and began to nurse.

Thinking about children inevitable brought his memory back to his mortal life. Very, very few hollows recalled their mortal life, least of all as clearly as he did. He remembered the three wonderful children Yylfordt had once had with his charming wife. And he recalled, all to clearly, how the youngest had been dying, how she had spent almost her entire life in a hospital, every day a struggle while an unknown disease ate away at her.

He's spent almost every waking minute trying to find out what it was, what was eating her. What was killing this wonderful, charming, beautiful child who always had a smile no matter how many IV's were in her arm or tubes down her nose. No matter the number of tests that were ran she always remained happy, confident he would save her. He'd died without ever finding that cure, murdered actually.

He tried to push that gruesome thought aside, refusing to dwell on it, refused to recall the pain he'd been in. The disgrace. The fear. The agony. But, as always when he thought of his niece, the memory returned and ran through his mind like a movie he couldn't stop.

His lab partner had been a charming young woman, just two years out of medical school. She had been the one to make sure he took breaks. She was the one who pulled him out of the lab to get fresh air. She had been the daughter of someone high up in one of the strongest local gangs. He hadn't known that at the time, but he had learned quickly and painfully.

She had pulled him from the lab, insisting they get something to eat. He had reluctantly agreed. He had been too intent on finding a cure during the time he had known her, but had he had the time he probably would have courted her. She was smart, she was pretty, and she obviously had something resembling affection for him, for why else would she make sure he ate and would listen to him ramble and rant when he was frustrated or when he had a break through without complaint.

They were in the underground parking lot when they had found themselves surrounded by six men with guns. He didn't recall the conversation word for word, not anymore. He just remembered that he'd been ordered to back off from her, that she wasn't his to take. He recalled her screaming at the leader of this little posse, at least until one of them had gagged her. He recalled insults had been thrown about his looks, how they could put him in a dress and pass him off as a cheep prostitute.

Two of them had held guns against his head. He still recalled the feeling of the cold tips pressing to his skull. He recalled the sound of tearing as the leader of this little posse, a man hopelessly obsessed with his bosses daughter and Szayel's lab partner, and used a 16inch knife to slice his clothing off. He recalled there had been jokes made, how they commented he looked like a girl and they were going to treat him as one. One of the goons had swept his feet out from under him, sending him to the cold, concrete. They kicked him onto his stomach and before he could have a chance to respond his face was pressed into the ground with the barrels of two large handguns digging into his skull.

They had threatened to kill him if he moved. He oddly remembered how the concrete had dug into his chest, how it was ice cold, gritty and smelt like exhaust and burned rubber. Than, they had started to rape him. Two held guns to his head while kneeling on his arms to keep him pinned while a third would take their turn. He didn't know how long it had gone on, only that the six of them had taken at least two turns each on him, all the while jeering and laughing.

He didn't know what had happened to his friend. He had lost sight of her when they had pinned him to the ground and he didn't dare attempt to look for her with his head being ground into the concrete by two gun barrels. After they had all had their turns on him, the leader of the posse, he never did learn the bastards name, had pulled his head back and set that 16 inch knife to his throat. Even to this day he recalled the last words he'd ever heard in his mortal life.

"_Now to make sure you won__'__t be thinking about my girl anymore.__"_

His head had been released and the knife had trailed down his back, leaving a small trail of blood as it sliced through the skin, before overwhelming agonizing pain shot through him, far exceeding that of his torn and bleeding anus, as the large knife was shoved through his manhood and buried into his thigh, inadvertently going right through his Iliac Artery. The men had panicked when blood started gushing out of the wound like a fountain and his world had quickly started to go cold and dark as he bled out. The numbness had been welcomed after all the pain.

When he came to he had been standing over his own body, his friend no where in sight and the police and paramedics were going over his body. It had taken a while for him to come to terms with the fact that he was dead, that no one could hear or see him, even as he desperately begged the men on the crime scene to find out what had happened to the only woman who had ever paid him any heed. He never did see her again, nor learn what had happened to her.

He hadn't had time to deal with what had happened to him, to come to terms with the fact he'd been raped and murdered. One of the paramedics dealing with his body had commented that he'd just help move Szayel's niece into the ICU unit since the hospital was short staffed just before the call of his murder had been made.

He had abandoned his body and rushed to her side, using the ability to go through walls to get there faster. Her small body had been so frail and pale and she was hooked up to so many machines. Assured she was still alive, at least for the moment, he had rushed to the lab. He was dead though, and unable to use the equipment nor could anyone hear him. Still, he had spent days desperately trying to communicate and hovering over those that still worked to try and find his niece a cure.

He had been forced to watch as his brother broke the news of his death to her. She had sobbed brokenly for hours, whimpering and getting weaker until they finally had to sedate her. She had ceased fighting her ailment and would frequently break down into tears. He had promised he was going to save her. He had broken that promise.

He remembered the day she died. He remembered how they had found the cure two weeks later. He recalled the look of grief on his sister-in-laws face and how the death of his little angle had torn Yylfordt to pieces, occurring so quickly after the news his younger brother had been found raped and murdered in a parking lot that should have been safe. He remembered how everything had torn him to pieces. He'd been lost after the funeral, and had stayed around the lab, unable to find the energy to go on. If only he hadn't been murdered, if only he'd been alive. He could have found the cure in time and she would have still been alive. It had been those bastards fault! They had killed him, humiliated him and, more importantly, had killed an innocent little girl who only wanted to see the flowers growing in the park or to go to a bloody pet store to see the animals she had only ever seen in pictures!

He remembered the rage, the burning anger and fury, but not much else. When he came to the very bastards that had not only murdered him, but had raped him simply because someone high up in a local gang's love interest _talked_ and _worked_ with him and they wanted to send him a message, were shredded messes before his claws with their flesh dangling from his mouth. He'd hunted them all down in a fury. It was because of them that she had died. He recalled the fury, the feeling of their warm blood in his mouth and how it coated his body.

When the high was over he'd no longer been human. His mind had slowly returned as he studied his new body, one of pure white and almost catlike. His face had been covered by a white mask, but his pink hair had still stuck out. He had always been curious, it was what led him to become a scientist. With this transformation came some basic genetic knowledge, but it wasn't enough. The Living Realm held no more for him, just painful memories and grief. It was time to explore this new body of his.

"Papa, can we have dessert now?" Hijastro asked, thankfully breaking him out of his reminiscing.

He raised his head from where he had been cradling it in his arms and glanced over to his daughter, who's fur was slightly damp from the bath. Cachorro was already trotting towards the freezer where he knew Isshin had hidden a box of ice cream bars. The triplets had yet to make an appearance but he could hear Yuzu chattering happily away to Karin and Tesra and the triplets making various mews of their own. He hadn't even realized he'd been crying again until he realized the sleeves to his yukuta were soaked with his tears.

"Go ahead," he smiled at her.

The past was the past. Dwelling on it did nothing more than cause pain and it wasn't as if it could be changed. He wiped his eyes clear before anyone could notice he'd been sobbing like a little girl.

Cachorro had just found the box and was handing his half-sister one when the rest of the tribe arrived, minus Yylfordt who would be on patrol around the den and the two downstairs that were probably fucking instead of fighting like they claimed they were going to do.

Szayel happily accepted the little female cub from Tesra and sat her on his lap. She mewed happily and rubbed against him, her damp fur making his yukuta wet and stick to his skin, but he didn't mind. Hijastro walked over to them and handed him one of the bars to feed to the cub sitting in his lap. The triplets were not so great at hand eye co-ordination yet and, having just come out of a bath, the best way to make sure they didn't get ice cream all over their freshly cleaned fur was to hold the bar for them. Ternero, lacking hands, was assisted by Tesra.

Most of the time the lack of hands didn't bother the cub that much, but lately it was starting to get to Ternero. Unlike Cachorro and Hijastro, his body was not designed to walk on his back hooves. He couldn't hold a pen to draw. He couldn't climb up to the top levels of the Jungle Gym. Hell, he couldn't even open doors that were fully closed. It was starting to depress the poor cub. It might be time to start working on getting them to seal their power and, hopefully, assume a more humanoid form.

"Are you feeling alright, Szayel-san?" Yuzu questioned, the oldest boy in her lap.

"I am perfectly fine," he assured her.

She looked at him doubtfully, but didn't press the issue. No doubt his eyes were a bit puffy from the earlier self pity sobbing he'd done. He was also pretty tired all the time now as well.

"Ichi-nii head downstairs with Grimmjow?" Karin questioned.

"Yes. He was getting restless and wanted to spar. For some reason he is not being drained."

"They day Ichi-nii does something _'__the right way__'_ is the day the universe ends," Karin snorted.

"I am almost afraid to test that theory because I am rather in love with the universe right now," he agreed.

With his power drained, and with Karin's increase in abilities over the last five years, she was once again standing higher in the pack than he was. The only two lower were the two Omega's. It would shift after the cubs were born of course, with him standing once more below the Alpha Pair where he belonged, but until than the only reason he wasn't holding the place of Omega was because Yuzu and Tesra were both so naturally submissive.

The cubs finished their desert and they all returned to the large playroom so the cubs could play for half an hour to burn out the last of their excess energy before being sent to bed. He gathered up the girls to put them to bed while Tesra and Karin herded the boys. Yuzu started to gather the laundry from the cub's bath, which included the girls swim suites.

Szayel closed the door behind him and set about tucking the girls together in their nest.

"Can you please read to us?" Hijastro begged, digging up one of the books Isshin had given her one Christmas.

Both girls gave him big, watery eyes, silently pleading for him to relent and read the book to them. Not even someone as bad assed as Grimmjow could have said no to twin pooling eyes like that.

"Alright, but only one book," he relented.

Both girls let out identical mews of delight and his daughter started purring, a sound that only increased as he settled into the nest, accepted the book, and waited for the two cubs to curl contently on either side of him. Flipping the book open to the first page, he slowly started to read, pointing to each word as he spoke it and pausing sometimes to ask Hijastro which word it was he was pointing too. There was no reason why the two girls couldn't learn and have fun at the same time.

It was a long day and he was getting rather sleepy. He could feel his eyes start to droop and even Hijastro was yawning widely now. The words began to blur and he blinked his eyes to try and clear them, but it didn't seem to be working. He felt a sudden ringing of alarm. He was tired, but he shouldn't be this exhausted. He tried to move, but found his body was too heavy. Now he began to panic. Something was wrong, this wasn't right. Both girls were fully asleep now and Hijastro had stopped purring. He wanted to check on them and terror gripped him as he thought that they might be dead, that whatever was ailing him had killed the cubs and was about to kill him.

He saw a small section of the floor simply disappear to reveal a hole in the ground, but he didn't have the ability to move, let alone cry out an alarm. He was far to drained to flare what little reiatsu he had in distress. He struggled against the poison flooding the room, but found himself completely immobilized.

Several people came up out of the hole in the floor, all of them wearing tight, white suits and gas masks attached to oxygen tanks. He watched helplessly through tear-filled eyes as the two cubs were removed from him and placed in small, mettle cages. He completely lost sight of them when someone kicked him harshly in the side, flipping him onto his stomach. He was fading quickly, but he held stubbornly to consciousness, even as he felt his assailants truss him up.

He completely lost all vision once he was blindfolded. He could feel them manhandling him down the hole. Everything was starting to feel like a dream. There was a startled sound of excited exclamation.

"This time, you will not escape me!"

(POV)

Ichigo woke with a start when Cachorro slammed into him, followed by the other two cubs, all three of them crying in distress. Behind him, Grimmjow was already fully awake and racing out of the room. It took a moment for Cachorro's words to make sense, mainly because the other two boys were meowing so loudly in distress while trying to burrow under him that he couldn't hear his eldest over their caterwauling.

He felt Grimmjow's reiatsu explode in fury and he quickly untangled himself from the nest, ordering the cubs to stay there while he rushed towards his mate, grabbing Zangetsu on the way. He didn't have far to go, only a few feet away from the entrance of their den into the girls room, a room that was completely empty.

Tesra was just coming out of his own den, a distressed Ternero by his side. Despite his order to remain in the nest, his own three boys were already plastered to his legs. Of his daughters, there was no sign. Nor was there any sign of Szayel, who should have been racing in with the commotion that was going on.

From what he was able to make out of the cubs rambling, the two youngest boys had been planning to ambush their sisters this morning, only to find the den empty. A search of Szayel's room, the only other spot they would have been hiding, turned up empty. The door was firmly shuttered from this side and there was no way for the girls to have snuck out and the scent in Szayel's nest was old, indicating he hadn't been there all night.

Ichigo could feel panic begin to overcome him. His daughters were missing. Simply gone with no trace.

"_No time to panic, thank you idiot, think,__"_he ordered himself sternly.

Beside him, his mate also seemed to be fighting back panic and rage, and was doing a better job of it. Grimmjow was the first one who stopped shaking and stilled his body before sniffing the air and sending his reiatsu out.

"Shinigami," he spat in a mixture of rage and distaste.

Cachorro detached himself from Ichigo's leg and entered the room hesitantly, also sniffing around. The two youngest boys remained latched onto Ichigo's legs.

"Here, it smells strongest here," Cachorro reported as he sniffed along the floor.

Grimmjow joined their son, sniffing the air before suddenly bringing his foot down hard on the ground. The floor cracked and echoed, not a sound something solid should make. Two more kicks and the tunnel was revealed and the ground crumbled away.

"What's going on?" Yyfordt questioned as he joined them.

The Arrancar was only spared his head because Ichigo managed to snag his mate by the arm before he could decapitate the one who was on guard duty, who should have prevented something like this from happening.

"He couldn't have known. None of us noticed," Ichigo said firmly.

Grimmjow glared at him challengingly, but Ichigo held the gaze. It was so hard to do because he himself wanted to blame Yylfordt for this. Right now he was almost willing to blame anyone, so long as it took an edge off of the pain and despair he was feeling.

"Tesra, Yylfordt, watch the cubs. Take them to my father and tell him what happened," Ichigo ordered as firmly as he could, despite the fact his voice wanted to croak and break with emotion.

Neither one wisely said a word, and simply gathered the four remising cubs up before racing away, although it took a bit of work to pry his two youngest boys from his legs. Cachorro protested a bit, but was ignored. Without a word, Ichigo finally released the death grip he had on Grimmjow's arm and followed him down the hole. It terminated into a sewer system almost fifty kilometres away. Not the best at tracking by either reiatsu or scent, Ichigo let Grimmjow take the lead. They were led around for a while before coming up to the surface in a park. The trail went cold from there. All traces of reiatsu vanished, as did the scent.

"The trail ends here," Grimmjow snarled in angered frustration. "Fucking Shinigami," he roared.

"Can we be certain it was them?" Ichigo demanded. He really didn't want to believe it was.

"The reiatsu trail is definitely theirs. Even the scent screams fucking Shinigami It probably belongs to that bastard we let in yesterday," Grimmjow snarled dangerously.

"No, I don't think so," Ichigo shook his head. "Jushiro-san would never bring anyone who could harm the cubs into the den, and it would have taken more than a day to tunnel that far," Ichigo pointed out.

"Than it must be that fucked up freak that attacked the cubs last time," his Mate growled.

That did have potential, and if it did turn out that Kurotsuchi has taken his cubs and one of their pack, well, this time a beating wasn't going to be good enough. Normally he abhorred killing, but he was with his Mate on this one, especially if anyone had been harmed.

"The trail ends here for sure? They didn't get into a vehicle or anything?"

"That might hide scent, but not reiatsu."

He couldn't argue with that. If Grimmjow said the trail ended here than the trail ended here.

"Does it feel like a gate opened here?" Ichigo questioned.

"I can't tell something like that," Grimmjow shook his head.

Ichigo could see every muscle of Grimmjow's body was taunt and his hands were tightly fisted. It took him a moment to realize he was holding a similar position. Fire enraged blue met fire enraged golden. It was almost like looking into a soul mirror. Both of them, realizing how close they were to completely losing it, forced themselves to take a calming breath and release the death grip they had on the hilts of their respective Zanpakuto's.

"If you say the trail ends here, than they probably did gate back to Soul Society. Come on. Kisuke can open a gate for us. Promise me one thing though Grimmjow,"

"What!" he snarled.

"There is a good chance that this was an unauthorized kidnapping. Please, keep your temper. I will not have you hurting my friends when they are probably going to be just as pissed as we are. We don't want to make enemies out of everyone if they were not involved. The more help we have searching, the faster we will find them."

"And if it was authorized?" Grimmjow questioned.

"Then Yama-ji, the 12th and Central 46 are going to need replacements after filling out missing person reports, because by the time we are done with them there will be nothing left to even be considered using as evidence," Ichigo declared dangerously.

* * *

><p>If you know where Szayel's hollow hole is, than you probably got to admit how he died here totally makes sense. This past was actually planned for him for some time. Things were getting to lovey dovey in the den, need some chaos. <em><strong> GLORIOUS CHOAS!<strong>_

Thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews. Up over 900 now. Here's hopping to break the 1000 barrier. I got to run, so I can't chat for long even though there are probably come reviews that deserve answers. Have a good vacation Black Storm and hopefully you got to read this chapter before you go. Of course, considering how this leaves off on a cliff-hanger and the other ended nicely, maybe it would be best if you didn't read it because now you might end up suffering for a month fretting over what happens next. Oops


	46. Reinforcements

Reinforcements

Ichigo had been right, Kisuke had opened a gate for them with all haste when he found out what had happened. Yourichi and Kisuke both assured them they would investigate the crime scenes to see what they could learn, to determine if there was any trace left behind from the culprits that could lead them to the ones responsible, be it Kurotsuchi or someone else. Honestly though, Ichigo couldn't think of anyone else that would be interested in attacking the den and kidnapping their cubs and pack mate. But, he also hadn't known Aizen had been watching him since birth either so there was a faint possibility there could be someone out there he didn't know about.

There was one question that was bothering Ichigo though, why now? If it was Kurotsuchi, which he was pretty damn sure it was, he had known about them for five years now. Why would he move now? Surely he must know they would instantly suspect him. It seemed like a very foolish thing to do. It wasn't like he was lacking information either. True to his word, Szayel had been making copies of his journals and sending them to Kisuke to pass on to Soul Society and they had been fairly open with Jushiro.

Ichigo hoped that the information would change Soul Societies policy on hunting and tracking the Arrancar. They were different, no longer just hollows. Thanks to Aizen they had part of a Shinigami soul now, and so far their offspring were even less hollow like in nature. That was one reason he had claimed and was rebuilding Las Noches. It was too early to expect his Arrancar pack mates to be accepted in Soul Society, nor did they desire to live amongst the Shinigami. The Living Realm was not for them either. Yes they had lived here for five years now, but they were essentially ghost, unable to interact with the others and confined to the den thanks to the dangers of having such high level reiatsu linger around mortals for too long.

The cubs would never be able to go to school here, to make human friends. They were simply not human and didn't act human either. His schooling was done, he knew what he needed to care for any medical situation that may affect his cubs or pack, and Szayel would easily be able to make and maintain the equipment they would need. From what he understood from Kisuke's reports, Szayel's labs were still there and not all the equipment had been decimated or taken when Kurotsuchi had been forced to retreat.

Soon, Las Noches would be ready for his pack, to be a safe haven for those Arrancar that wanted a peaceful existence. He couldn't help but to think about Nel and her brothers. They had never found them and he could only hope that she was still safe, running through the desert happily playing eternal tag like she had been doing since before he even knew what a hollow was.

His mind also went to the other couple who had been forced to mate under Kurostsuchi's influence. Had that cub been born? Had they been able to feed it? The couple seemed to have the support of several others so at least the cub would have been well protected. Had any other Arrancar couples mated in the last five years? They had scattered to the winds shortly after he had freed them, although Yylfordt and Tesra had informed him that a few had been sniffing curiously around the edges of Las Noches in the last year.

"_They are like lost children, their tyrannical father murdered and now they have no one to guild them,__"_Ichigo couldn't help but to muse.

They were a new race with no one to guild them anymore, not that Ichigo regretted defeating Aizen, just that there was no one to help them understand the new onslaught of emotions that the Shinigami part of their soul returned to them. He recalled all too well how many of the Arrancar had looked at him after he had lead the rescue operation.

The gate closed behind them as they stepped out into Soul Society, breaking Ichigo out of his thoughts. Now that they were here he felt his rage fly forward, but he forced it under tight control. It was exceedingly hard to do because H'tsu was just as pissed as he was, frothing at the mouth about anyone daring to touch his daughter and pet, even though Ichigo had never let his hollow out to touch Szayel since the Alpha pair had taught H'tsu his place years ago.

"Where to first?" Grimmjow questioned coldly, his eyes scanning their surroundings like the dangerous predator he was.

Ichigo could tell that his mate's body was strung just as tight as his was. Even though Grimmjow had his hands shoved in his pockets in an uncaring manner, Ichigo could see the strain on his arms indicating his hands were probably clenched so tight he was drawing blood from his palms thanks to his nails.

Ichigo's first thought was to bust into the 12th and start tearing shit up, but he quickly curbed that notion. Instead, he unconsciously sought out the familiar and comforting feeling of Rukia and Jushiro's reiatsu. If it was any taichou that had truly taken to the cubs and would be just as infuriated at their cubnapping as he was, it would be Jushiro.

"This way," Ichigo declared.

Both of them launched into their respective Shunpo/Sonido as they headed towards the 13th Division. As much as Ichigo tried to contain his reiatsu, it flared out of control in his stress and they left a swath of moaning and unconscious Shinigami in their wake. Ichigo would have been surprised that they were not confronted by the other higher level Shinigami if he'd been thinking clearly. For some odd reason he had latched onto Jushiro's reiatsu, as if believing that, somehow, Jushiro would be able to fix the problem.

Jushiro was obviously expecting them when they stormed into his office. He was sitting alone at his desk with what looked like freshly brewed coffee, something Ichigo knew Jushiro didn't drink. He seemed concerned instead of serine, which was welcoming because Ichigo was so high strung that he would probably have lost it if a friend was totally calm over this, even though said friend would have no idea what was going on yet.

"Ichigo, Grimmjow, what is the matter?" Jushiro questioned calmly.

Ichigo forced himself to take several deep calming breaths and sit across from Jushiro. After a moment Grimmjow did the same, snatching up and draining a cup of coffee despite how hot it had to have been. Ichigo nudged the cup intended for him towards his mate. If coffee kept Grimmjow calm than he could have it all.

Ichigo answered Jushiro's question as calmly as he could, but his voice still wavered in stress and his reiatsu was fluctuating wildly as he explained everything they knew. Grimmjow interjected a time or two, his voice low, growling and dangerous. Jushiro's eyes widened in shock and a horrified expression crossed his features before he schooled them as the story went on. Ichigo knew, right than and there, that Jushiro definitely had no knowledge of any order that may have been given to take the cubs, and that he was just as worried as they were.

"Do you know who it was?" Jushiro asked.

"I can hazard a fucking guess," Grimmjow snarled.

Ichigo rested his hand on Grimmjow's arm in an effort to help his mate keep control. He could feel the muscles coiled so tightly it was a wonder Grimmjow hadn't snapped yet.

"You think Kurotsuchi-taichou is behind this," Jushiro guessed.

"Who else knows where the den is and has the motivation, and the means, to pull something like this off?" Ichigo pointed out. "And if it wasn't him we are going to need all the help we can get to find them."

"I see. Rukia," Jushiro called.

Rukia walked into the room from where she had been waiting just outside the door. The look on her face was as upset as the one that was no doubt on their faces, indicatign she had heard the whole thing from the hallway where she had been waiting to be summoned. Ichigo had seen Rukia mad before, usually at something he or Renji had done, but this look... Ichigo would say Rukia looked damn near murderous and it honestly took him back a bit.

"Hai, Taichou?" she questioned, her voice betraying her anger.

"Can you escort our guest to a spare room while I head down to talk to Yama-ji about getting a meeting going. Anyone that could slip past Kisuke's wards, four Arrancar guards and Kurosaki himself and manage to subdue an Arrancar and get out again without setting off an alarm is definitely worth investigating.

"Ichigo, Grimmjow, thank you for coming to me first and not just tearing things up in a murderous rage, despite the fact it's entirely warranted and understandable. I promise we will get to the bottom of this and find your cubs and missing pack mate. I do not know that I could be as calm as you two are right now if someone had my mother and siblings."

"Jushiro," Ichigo called before the Shinigami could leave. "If it does turn out that Kurotsuchi is behind this, I am not only going to kill him, I am going to tear him into a thousand pieces, and what ever pieces I miss, Grimmjow will be sure to get," he declared in a very cold voice.

"Better fucking believe it," Grimmjow agreed in a snarl.

Jushiro just nodded his head and left.

"Ichigo…." Rukia never finished her sentence, clearly unable to think of anything to say, and what was there to say. "Would you like more coffee while we wait to hear from Ukitake-taichou?" she questioned instead.

"Sure," Ichigo answered for them.

Rukia led them to the cafeteria, which was currently full of 4th division members seeing to the slew of unseated Shinigami who had been blind sided by Ichigo's out of control, enraged reiatsu from his walk through the division. Apparently, it had been breakfast time and the room was almost a sea of black bodies.

"Oh, Kurosaki-san, are you all right?"

"Hanatoro," Ichigo greeted the 4th divisioner as warmly as he could. "I am alright. Sorry for the mess," he apologized as he looked around the room.

"Oh, it's okay," Hanataro smiled sheepishly up at him. "I should, um, get back to work."

"You do that. It's good to see you again."

"You too, Kurosaki-san."

"Who's the pipsqueak?" Grimmjow demanded in a grunt, returning to Ichigo's side with a large mug of coffee cradled in his hands.

"Hanataro? He's an old friend of mine. He helped us out a lot when I came to rescue Rukia from her execution. He may seem shyer than Yuzu, but he's a good healer and he's got some guts. How are you feeling?" Ichigo questioned concerned.

"Like I want to tear shit up in a way I haven't wanted to before. I swear, if he hurts those cubs…." the mug in Grimmjow's hand shattered, spilling coffee all over his hand and some of his uniform.

Grimmjow didn't seem to notice the shattered glass nor the hot coffee, neither of which could make it through his hierro anyhow.

"I know," Ichigo agreed softly.

They definitely had the attention of almost everyone in the room. It wasn't just because Ichigo was having a hard time keeping his massive pool of reiatsu under control either. This was the first time pretty much any of them had seen an Arrancar up close. In fact, he was pretty sure Rukia and Hanataro were the only ones here that had.

"C'mon you lazy louts, get up!" Rukia called out to her Division members. "You are making an embarrassment of yourselves!"

Those that had only been strongly winded suddenly forced themselves to snap to attention and started helping the members from the 4th with those that were just starting to come too. Others were watching his mate with hands on the hilts of their blades.

"But those weapons away, it is rude to treat our guests in a such a manner." Rukia snapped. "Do you honestly think Ukitake-taichou would let a threat into the Division?" she questioned coldly.

Hands may have left hilts, but they hovered close by and the looks of unease remained.

"Make yourselves useful. Spread out and search the compound for anyone who may have injured themselves when Ichigo's reiatsu storm hit."

"Hai, Kuchiki-fukutaichou!" several men saluted as they spread out.

Ichigo felt suddenly guilty. In his anger he had inadvertently hurt so many people that didn't deserve it. Some could even be hurt pretty bad if they had fallen off a ladder or been carrying something heavy.

"Stop," Rukia ordered him sternly.

"Huh?" he looked at her confused.

"You are beating yourself up over this, get over it!" she ordered sternly.

"But…"

"No buts," she growled. "They are Shinigami, if a little pissed of reiatsu knocks them down like that then they deserve the embarrassment," she scoffed.

"She's right. Weaklings," Grimmjow snorted, his eyes sweeping the room of recovering Shinigami in disdain.

It was amazing how much faster they started working after that. Most of the Shinigami had been cleared out when Hanataro walked up to them. So far he had been the only on brave enough to approach them. Between Ichigo's fluctuating enraged reiatsu and Grimmjow's entire being, the others felt it was best to stay well clear of the clearly dangerous and currently volatile duo.

"We are pretty much done here, Rukia-san," Hanataro announced. "Those that were hit the hardest have been ordered to take a bit of bed rest. They should be fine by this afternoon, if a little shaky," he announced, smiling at them shyly.

"Thank you, Hanataro," Rukia nodded at him.

"Ano…. may I ask what is going on?" he questioned hesitantly.

Rukia looked like she was about to answer, than thought better of it. "I am sure Unohana-taichou will fill you in later."

"Oh, okay. It was good to see you again Ichigo." Hanataro turned to him.

"Yeah, you too."

With that, Hanataro scurried away, no doubt to head to the next scene or back to the 4th. Rukia waited while they refilled their coffee, or in Grimmjow's case, got a new mug, before leading them back to the main office and out of sight of the curious and hostile eyes of the rest of her division. They were almost done their coffee when a hell butterfly fluttered into the office and rested on Rukia's finger.

"Ukitake-taichou just informed me that a meeting has been called. I am to escort you there," Rukia informed them, the little black butterfly fluttering around her head.

Ichigo nodded his head and they followed Rukia through the streets as fast as she could go. They arrived outside the 1st division quickly. The guards let them pass with only a startled glance at the Arrancar by his side.

The doors opened to admit them and Ichigo almost didn't grab his furious mate in time as twenty five heads turned to face them. Rukia would have been the twenty sixth but she was behind them.

"Grimmjow," Ichigo warned, even though his eyes glared sharply at Kurotsuchi as well.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," Yamamoto greeted them. "Ukitake had informed us your den was attacked and two of your cubs are missing, as well as one of the Arrancar under your protection."

"Yes," Ichigo answered, managing to pull his gaze from a board looking Kurotsuchi, or at least, he had seemed bored, and annoyed, until Yamamoto's announcement.

"We know you did it!" Grimmjow snarled and Ichigo had to tighten his grip.

"Hump, you should control your Beta, Ichigo," Kurotsuchi snorted.

"Fucker," Grimmjow snarled. "Where are they?!"

"Are you implying that** I **took your children?" Kurotsuchi asked incredulously.

"You have motive," Ichigo pointed out, keeping a firm grip on Grimmjow's arm, although that grip was pretty much the only thing keeping him in place as well.

"This can be cleared up quickly. Do you have an alibi, Kurotsuichi-taichou?" Unohana asked softly.

"Most of my division, including Shinji-taichou," Kurotuschi answered with a dismissive sniff.

"Shinji?" Ichigo questioned.

"Yeah, we were working on a project most of the night," Shinji answered with a shrug. "Hate to say it, but I was with him all night."

Ichigo wanted to deny it, but he had no doubt that Shinji was telling the truth.

"Would you like the security tapes?" Kurotsuchi questioned innocently.

Ichigo knew, to the core of his soul, that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He even demanded to see the tapes, and sure enough there was Kurotsuchi with Shinji all night long. There was no way that Kurotsuchi was directly involved and, as weak as Szayel may have been with the mating, there was no way an unseated officer could have subdued him before he could give off an alarm.

Unseated! He requested the tapes be re-ran, this time checking for Nemu's presence. She had the strength to easily subdue Szayel and would have followed her father's orders to the letter. That also turned into a bust. Nemu was with them the entire time as well. Ichigo felt like he hadn't felt in ages; completely helpless. Someone had his cubs and the trail had run cold.

"Are you satisfied yet?" Kurotsuchi demanded annoyed.

"Yes," Yamamoto announced firmly, the tone of his voice indicating he had no interest in hearing anymore accusations and that the matter was to be dropped.

"Honestly, accusing me of such a thing. How do you know your missing pack mate isn't the one who took the cubs?" Kurotsuchi pointed out haughtily.

"Fucker!" Grimmjow snarled.

"_If_ Szayel was responsibly, which I can assure he definitely isn't, why would he have tunnelled his way out when he could have just walked out through the front doors?" Ichigo pointed out. "He could have taken all of the cubs during the middle of the day with no one the wiser and they would have followed him. I can assure you, leaving the pack would be the very last thing on Szayel's mind right now, not in his condition anyway," Ichigo assured them.

"Hmm? Condition?" Kurotsuchi questioned, suddenly very curious.

"That's none of your fucking business," Grimmjow snarled.

Ichigo was having a hard time restraining his mate, and being just as pissed himself wasn't helping. Fortunately, Yamamoto spoke up before the conversation with the infuriating bastard could continue it's fast roll down hill.

"I want all divisions to scour the city for any trace of Kurosaki's cubs and the missing Arrancar. Soi Fon-taichou, you will lead the investigation. Something that can slip past such strong defences could be a threat to us as well."

"What about Hueco Mundo?" Shunsui questioned. "You said that Szayel was something rare right? How rare and what is he worth to another hollow?"

Ichigo looked at Grimmjow since he was not sure on the answer himself.

"To the right hollow, basically anyone of breeding capability strong enough to subdue him, he's worth a fucking lot. Natural Beta's are very rare. Weakened right now with his pregnancy,"

Kurotsuchi perked up at that tidbit of info that Ichigo had deliberately been trying to keep from the scientist. The light of desire definitely was swelling in those creepy eyes now.

"even an Adjucus could subdue him. It would be a simple matter to just keep mating him after each cub is born to keep him weak enough to contain," Grimmjow answered reluctantly, completely missing the sudden displeasure coming from Ichigo and the excitement from Kurotsuchi.

"Would such a hollow be interested in the cubs?" Unohana questioned concerned.

"To an Adjucus, not likely. Caring for cubs not their own as they wander the dessert wouldn't be worth it. An Arrancar or Vasto Lorde _might_ conclude the cubs to be Szayel's, since he was bedded down with them, and consider using them to keep him in line. They would be able to easily hold a secure den to hold them in."

"But no hollows knew where the den was," Ichigo pointed out.

"No place is ever completely secret Ichigo," Unohana pointed out. "It could be possible that a hollow with stealth capabilities detected the den, or got close enough to pick up that 'scent' you said Beta's give off when pregnant."

"It's plausible," Grimmjow admitted with a grunt, "but the scent of the bastards in the tunnel was not that of a hollow, but that of Shinigami, and the reiatsu was definitely Shinigami as well. No Arrancar or Vasto Lorde could mimic that," Grimmjow growled.

"They don't necessarily have to be Shinigami," Shinji pointed out. "Take your friend Ishida for an example. He may be a Quincy, but his scent and reiatsu is still human. It would be foolish of us to believe that _everyone_ with Reiatsu became a Shinigami. No doubt the Noble Houses have personal guards that could be confused with Shinigami."

"Very true," Shunsui agreed. "Several of my father's guards would easily be mistaken for Shinigami to the wrong person. The information about you pack is rather well known. It would be foolish of us not to believe that reports have made it to the Noble Houses as well."

The discussion continued for a little bit longer before Soi Fon took up the role of leading the investigation and assigned everyone their patrol routes. Just to cover the possibility that the assailants headed to Hueco Mundo instead of Soul Society, she assigned the 11th Division the task of searching what they could of the desert. It was a task Kenpachi seemed pleased with, although Ichigo had a feeling it had less to do with looking for his cubs and more to do with the potential for battle.

She didn't seem happy that Kisuke was doing the Living Realm investigation, but she let it slid when she heard Yoruichi was on top of it as well. Even after all these years she still had a bad case of hero worship.

"Ichigo, while we all know it would be best if you and Grimmjow stay out of our way and let us do our jobs, I also know that neither one of you will be able to sit still. I certainly know I would not be able to. Would you like to come with me and Shunsui while we investigate the Noble Houses?" Jushiro asked. "Your presence might unnerve any potential culprit enough to give something away."

"Thanks Ukitake-san, we would appreciate that," Ichigo answered.

Now that they were finally moving he felt some of that helpless, overwhelming pressure leave his shoulders. His gut was still twisted into knots and his muscles were still wrung tight, but at least some of the pressure was lifted now that they had an entire army out looking for his cubs.

"Shinji," Ichigo caught up to the Vizard before they could disperse too much.

"Yo, what's up Ichigo?" Shinji questioned.

"For sure, 100% sure, you were with Kurotsuchi all night. There wasn't a time he could have slipped away?" Another thought suddenly occurred to him thanks to too many spy movies. "I mean, he could have rigged the cameras to make it look like he was there, but he couldn't rig your eyes."

Shinji sighed. "Sorry Ichigo, he was with me the entire time. Never left my side. Rather creepy actually."

"And Nemu?"

"Also there and when he did send her to grab something she was only gone for 5 minutes at the most, not nearly enough time to get to the Living Realm and back, let alone kidnap your pack mate and cubs."

"Alright," Ichigo sighed, a crestfallen expression covering his features.

"Don't worry, we'll find them," Shinji tried to assure him.

"Yeah, I know." Ichigo rejoined his mate and they fell into step next to Shunsui and Jushiro.

"It was never brought up during the meeting, but is Cachorro and the other boys alright?" Shunsui questioned concerned as they walked down the streets towards the first Estate.

"Yes. The boys were stressed and upset over their missing siblings and pack mate, but physically they are safe." Ichigo answered. "Dad has them now with the rest of the pack on high alert."

"Ichigo, the kimono I gave Hijastro, is it with her?" Shunsui questioned.

Ichigo actually had to stop walking and think. Was it still in the room or had Hijastro worn it to bed?

"Why?" he questioned as he raked his brain for the answer.

"I have been living in it for a very long time and traces of my reiatsu would have been imprinted on it. It hasn't been near long enough for those traces to have worn off yet. Jushiro is very in tuned to my reiatsu and if it is with her we might be able to trace it," Shunsui answered.

"No. The cubs had a bath that night," Grimmjow answered.

The brief spark of hope Ichigo had vanished quickly, and by the look that crossed Shunsui and Jushiro's faces, they were equally heartbroken. The search was just beginning, and when Ichigo found out who had dared to harm his cubs, well, Grimmjow would be lucky to find a small piece to shred for himself. Unlike Rukia or Orihime, the cubs had no way to defend themselves. The perpetrators were going to wish they have never been born. All hell was going to be broken lose. He might even let H'tsu come forth for a while, after all Hijastro was technically his cub. He deserved the right to "_speak"_ to the ones responsible for taking her. And if she was hurt…. well, Ichigo had occasionally wondered if he could ever return to the form he had used against Ulquiorra. Usually it was in fear of going back to it, but not this time.

"_**I will royally fuck them up king," **_H'tsu growled dangerously in his mind.

For once, Ichigo was in complete agreement with his Hollow half.

* * *

><p>I am such a troll… She's level 35 come to think of it. Anyhow…..<p>

Howdy all, I hope you are enjoying the Christmas Special as well and are having a good holiday season so far. If you haven't read the first chapter of it yet, well, what the heck is wrong with you?

I am pleased you liked the past I had set up for Szayel. It's one that has been stewing in my brain for a very long time, since long before he was reunited with Yylfordt. Heck, I think I have been stewing over it since before I even started writing TRK and this fict was just one I could work it into.

Asmodel: The month wait was a message for Blackstorm, who has to leave for another country for an entire month and is not guaranteed to have internet access. She goes every year to see family. Family is important, but so is the internet. Granted, I do believe she is going to Australia and I would LOVE to spend a month there. I have always wanted to go there and I would probably give up a month of Internet to do it, so long as I had my lap top to keep writing during down times of course.

Next Chapter: we go to Szayel POV


	47. Into the Darkness

Into the Darkness.

Szayel woke up with a start, instantly going into a panic as the events caught up to him and he realized he was naked and restrained spread eagle on what felt like an examination table. He was blindfolded and a rubber restraining bit was wedged tightly into his mouth, no doubt to prevent any attempt at biting, be it his captors or his tongue. He pulled against the restraints, the chains rattling loudly in his ears as they beat against the mettle table. His wrist and ankles were spared becoming bloody messes only because the cuffs were wrapped in some sort of wool to pad them. His chest tightened in pain and, even though he knew he was fast plunging into a full blown panic attack, he couldn't get himself to stop.

"Cease your incessant struggles. For someone claiming to be so intelligent you are showing a complete lack of it now. Even someone as dimwitted as you are should know you have no chance of breaking those restraints."

Szayel froze and his entire body broke out in nervous sweat. His mind raced with a million tortures that would most likely be begun on him at any moment now that he was conscious. It was the curse of one who was as mentally superior as he was.

"I must admit I never expected you to be in the room. What a marvellous surprise it turned out to be. I honestly expected your presence to be a hindrance to my long laid plans, and yet you fell at my feet like a new born babe. In fact, even now, your reiatsu is completely diminished. Are you, Szayel Aporro Grantz, with cub?"

He didn't answer, not that he could give a verbal one considering the bit in his mouth. His captor wasn't expecting a response anyway, not when they both knew the answer. His pregnancy was hardly a secret nor something that could easily be hidden from one that knew what to look for.

"How superb! Those two dimwitted imbeciles were right! I have yet to study the actual laying, incubating and hatching process. I am so looking forward to finally being able to document it. Ah, but you are probably thinking that you will not be here for that long aren't you? That your foolish and pathetic pack mates will come and rescue you, right?"

He was. There was no way in hell Ichigo and Grimmjow wouldn't have figured out what had happened. The Alpha pair was probably hot on the trail of himself and the cubs as they spoke. Truly, there was no chance that Kurotsuchi was going to get away with this. The _creature_ had signed his own death warrant.

"They did come into Soul Society to accuse me of course, but, unfortunately for you, I have a wonderful, reliable alibi; one of Ichigo's own close friends in fact. I could hardly be obtaining you and the cubs if I was in my own division the entire evening," Kurotsuchi chuckled.

The cubs! Hijastro! He had to physically force himself to hold still and not start struggling against his restraints again, but his entire mind raced in circles in concern for his daughter, his only child. She had been there beside him, had been put in a cage and taken. His mind raced as he thought of all the things Kurotsuchi could be doing to her even now, all the experiments even he had thought of when he had learned of Grimmjow having a cub before his long suppressed, Natural Beta Instincts had been violently torn forward thanks to H'tsu's violent mating and training.

"Would you like to see her?"

He nodded his head as slowly as he could, not wanting to seem desperate. If he seemed desperate Kurotsuchi would just use it to torment him some more.

"Ah, but letting you see your darling daughter would be very much like a reward, and only well behaved specimens get treats. Ones that misbehave need to be punished, especially ones that have managed to elude me twice now," Kurotsuchi hissed in anger.

It was so very hard not to rise to the bait, to continue to breath deeply and calmly even though he was about three breaths away from a full blown panic attack. He almost lost it when he felt the tip of that sharp nail Kurotsuchi seemed found of poke him in the centre of his chest before trailing downwards in a leisurely manner.

"And let us not forget what you did to poor Nemu-chan. You almost killed her _twice_ with that little rebirth technique of yours. It truly is a flawed thing, requiring another being to revive yourself," Kurotsuchi scoffed. "Truly you are a sub par scientist, and I hesitate to even award you that much."

In the past such insults would have sent him frothing at the mouth, especially from a third rate, clearly inferior creature like Kurotsuchi. Right now though, his daughter needed him to remain calm. She could even be in the room with him for all he knew, watching terrified from her cage.

"Hmm, your ill founded arrogance has certainly been….. deflated. Curious. I look forward to learning more about just how you were trained out of such unfounded arrogance. But for now, tell me truly _specimen_, would you like to see your offspring?" Kurotsuchi questioned, and this time the bit was removed from his mouth.

"Yes," he answered simply, adding the insults he wished to say in his mind only.

"And what will you do for me to deserve such a reward?" Kurotsuchi questioned mockingly, running that nail down past his belly button and along the inside of one thigh.

His mouth was suddenly very dry, and went drier as that nail trekked closer to the sphincter that so many in the past had violated in both his human and hollow life. Bleakly, he wondered if that was to be his lot in life, to be the sexual plaything of insane people. Still, Szayel would do anything for his daughter. If he could survive H'tsu's attention, he could get through this. He gather his will and forced the words out.

"What do you want from me?" he questioned brokenly.

"Information for now," Kurotsuchi announced, and that nail was removed from his body.

The answer semi surprised him and he felt a brief amount of relief when he realized that he wasn't about to be raped. Not that it caused him to relax in the slightest.

"How long have you been with cub?"

"8 days," he answered honestly after a moment of hesitation.

The information wasn't exactly unknown, Jushiro and Shunsui knew about it after all. Part of their agreement with Soul Society to be left in peace was the sharing of information.

Kurotsuchi continued to interrogate him over the pregnancy for every ounce of information he could provide. Szayel forced himself to answer and bit his tongue when he was questioned over things that any fool should have known as it was in the information that had already been shared with the Shinigami.

"_He__'__s testing me,__"_ Szayel realized. _"__Making sure the information we sent was accurate and true.__"_

The questions finally stopped just before he was about to lose control over his tongue and deliver the berating Kurotsuchi clearly needed. The blind fold was finally removed as well and his eyes burned in pain as they opened to stare up at an extremely bright exam light. He shut them quickly and turned his head to the side, giving his vision time to correct before blinking his eyelids rapidly to clear the spots. The room came into focus slowly, revealing a small examination room. He deliberately didn't look at any of the tools arrayed on various trays and he honestly wasn't certain which direction was the worse to face.

Looking left showed the trays of tools, a sink and several pieces of examination equipment. Looking right was a mirror that probably covered an observation room and reflected the left side of the room. All in all, poor options and both directions showed him the leering, painted face of the bastard who had dared to take him and the cubs.

"Humph, you were at least honest in your answers," Kurotsuchi sniffed in annoyance, looking at the clipboard in his hand. "Very well, bring them in," Kurotsuchi seemed to order to no one.

Szayel had no doubt there were people monitoring from the other side of the glass. A moment later the door opened and his ears instantly picked up the distressed cries of the two cubs. They were still in separate cages as they were wheeled into the room on a trolley.

Hijastro was frantically attacking the wires to her cage, hissing and mewling loudly in anger and distress. The other cub was shivering like a leaf caught in the wind in the corner of her cage furthest from the person pushing the cart, giving off little, weak mewls of distress.

He tensed against his restraints and almost started fighting them again as the cubs distressed cries rang in his ears. His very being wanted to comfort them and protect them. Kurotsuchi was watching his reaction intently, that creepy grin spread on his face as he did so.

"Mapa!" Hijastro cried when she finally noticed him.

Hijastro started to ram herself against the cage wall, trying to get closer to him. The cage probably would have rocked violently if it hadn't been secured to the cart. It was shuddering pretty good though.

"Have you been letting the specimen behave like this the entire time?" Kurotsuchi demanded sharply of the suddenly terrified orderly who had pushed the cart into the room.

"No Taichou…" the man stuttered.

"Useless," Kurotsuchi sneered before turning his attention to the cub. "I have told you to behave yourself," he snarled, shortly before pulling a rod out of his robes and tapping it against the side of the cage.

Sparks flew and Hijastro let out a yelp of shock and pain as the electrical current raced along the cage, stinging her in the process.

"Bastard," Szayel snarled, jerking against his restraints as his daughter's fur fluffed out from the electrical current.

Hijastro quit trying to ram her cage but she was growling at Kurotsuchi, her tail lashing wildly and her body hunched ready to pounce. She probably would have fluttered her wings as well, but there was a black strap around her body preventing them from opening.

"Marginally better," Kurtsuchi comment.

Kurotsuchi turned his gaze to the other cub that was still trembling in fright in the corner of her cage. The poor girl was so terrified she didn't even have the capability to mewl anymore. Without a word, Kurotsuchi opened the door and thrust his hand in, grabbing her by the scruff of the neck and dragging her out of the cage like the giant kitten she resembled.

Szayel jerked against his restraints again and Hijastro let out a loud growl of warning, her tail lashes increasing in pace as her half sister was manhandled, but she didn't attack the cage walls again. His daughter was smart and had learned her lesson well.

Kurotsuchi turned about and walked up to his bound form, the little cub limp in his grasp. Szayel continued to pull against his restraints, desperately wanting to hold her and calm her down. She looked to be about three seconds away from heart failure due to sheer terror. It was rare, but it happened on occasion, particularly among rodents caught in a cats paws. Half the time they died of exhaustion and heart failure as they were toyed with, not the wounds inflicted upon their bodies.

Kurotsuchi lowered the cub until her paws hit the table he was bound to, and then let her go. Instantly she was curled against him, mewling weakly in distress and trying to burrow her way under him. Her body was quivering in fear and her breathing was laboured.

"Shh, shh, it's alright," he tried to assure her, doing his best to ignore Kurotsuchi's presence. Right now there was a cub that needed him and his instincts threw ever other part of his being out the window to focus on the little one curled next to him. "Shh, come one hun, you need to calm down. Can you do that for me?" he encouraged.

She ceased trying to burrow under him and slowly peeked her head up over his chest to look at him. He wanted to curl up protectively around her so badly that even the wool covered restraints started to bite painful into his joints as he strained against them. It took several minutes and gentle coaxing, but eventually she calmed down enough to get her breathing and heart rate back under control. She was still shivering, but it was a lot less violently.

Kurotsuchi watched the whole thing silently with an intrigued expression on his face. Hijastro had calmed down as well now that her sister was no longer so distressed. Her tail still lashed back and forth and she still let out little growls, but she wasn't pacing or hunched ready to attack anymore.

"Curious indeed," Kurotsuchi noted aloud.

The noise startled Szayel out of the trance he had set himself into as he calmed the cub down. For a moment he had, blessedly, forgotten he wasn't alone in the room. His body, which had relaxed a bit as the frightened cub calmed down, went tight again in apprehension.

"This cub isn't even yours is it?"

"No," Szayel hesitantly admitted.

"And yet you clearly have a bond with her. How very…. unhollowlike. What was it the reports called you again? Kurosaki's volatile pet mentioned it during the meeting yesterday morning. He commented that to the _right_ hollow you were actually worth something."

Szayel gritted his teeth and refused to answer, even as his mind assimilated the data. If Ichigo and Grimmjow had shown up in Soul Society looking for him yesterday morning than that meant he had been here since the night before. This led him to believe that Kurostuchi had probably kept him sedated while he was busy keeping up appearances.

"Do you want to see your daughter?" Kurotsuchi questioned mockingly.

Szayel nodded his head, not trusting his voice or the words that might come out of his mouth right now.

"Then I suggest you answer the question."

He swallowed and reluctantly answered, even though he was fairly positive that the information should have been in the reports Soul Society had been given. "I am a Natural Born Beta."

"Please, do elaborate what that means. And bear in mind that small words will simply not do," Kurotsuchi mocked as he moved over to Hijastro's cage, tapping that mettle rod on his shoulder as he studied to caged cub.

The little cub curled up by his side was slumbering now, all the stress having worn her out. His eyes drifted to Hijastro and he kept his gaze on his daughter, and the vulture hovering around her, as he forced himself to give a proper, scientific explanation on just what he was and what it meant.

"_He is checking the facts,__"_ Szayel realized half way through his report. _"__He doesn__'__t believe the information that has already been given and is trying to confirm it, and to determine if anything had been left out of those reports.__"_

When he finished his report Kurotsuchi simple nodded, as if mentally confirming something he had suspected or known. Szayel half expected to be interrogated now, but instead Kurotsuchi simply pushed the cart holding Hijastro closer to the examination table.

"As much as I would love to see you hold your daughter, I am afraid I do not trust her out of the cage. Be thankful I am letting you see her at all."

Hijastro pressed herself against the cage edge, trying to get as close to him as possible.

"Mapa?" she questioned.

"I am alright," he assured her.

"Mapa, what's going to happen to us?" she questioned fearfully.

"I don't know," he admitted, his gaze shifting to Kurotsuchi who was watching the exchange with that curious expression on his face.

"Can I see Mapa please? I promise to behave," Hijastro turned tear laden eyes Kurotsuchi's way. "Please?" she begged again, rubbing up against the side of her cage closest to Szayel.

"And here I thought you were just a mindless animal," Kurotsuchi chuckled amused.

Apparently, Hijastro hadn't shown them her capability to form coherent sentences. Szayel was not surprised. High tension situations always pulled Instinct forward and cubs had a hard time controlling their Instincts. Instinct is what kept a cub alive long enough to grow up to become something more.

"Please? I promise to behave," Hijastro asked again.

Kurotsuchi reached under the cart and deftly pulled out what looked like a length of chain, before threading it through into the cage and it turned out to be two pieces of chain with loops on the end; choke collars like the ones used on dogs to keep them under control.

"Put those on and I will consider it," Kurotsuchi instructed with a cruel grin.

The grin wavered slightly when Hijastro complied. Apparently, Kurotsuchi had expected her to be unable to comply, indicating that he hadn't had a chance to study the cubs yet and notice they did, indeed, have opposable thumbs hiding under the fur that covered their paws. Either that or he didn't expect Hijastro to know how to thread the chains, clearly underestimating their intelligence.

"Che," he sniffed, threading in the ends of two separate leashes through the crack that would expand when the door was opened.

Hijastro latched the ends on and than looked at their captor expectantly. Kurotuschi handed one leash to his subordinate and than opened the door while the two Shinigami took a step back. With the two leashes going off in either direction, Hijastro would be unable to get to either of their captors while they would be able to control her.

His daughter ignored them as she gave a little jump to get out of the cage and land on the table beside him. He felt a fair amount of tension leave his body the moment her soft, white fur brushed against his skin. His daughter was safe, at least for now. She was putting on a brave face but he could tell she was scared. Her body trembled ever so slightly against his.

She rested her paws on his chest and stretched out over his body to check on her sister before climbing over to be on the same side. She wrapped her body around the slumbering cub and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Mapa," she whimpered softly.

"Shh, it will be alright," he soothed her.

"Where is Papa?" she questioned worriedly.

"I don't know," he admitted softly. "But you know he is looking for us. I need you to do something for me, I need you to stay calm and watch your sister."

He ignored the little intrigued noise Kurotsuchi made at the comment. Any scientist worth their salt would run a DNA test as one of the first tests and the relationship between the two cubs would be revealed whether he verbalized it or not. If Kurotsuchi was even a quarter of the scientist he claimed to be, the relationship would be revealed before nightfall, assuming it was the morning or afternoon now.

"I don't want to leave you," she complained.

"I know, I don't want to leave you either."

He felt tears start to gather and the corner of his eyes as he thought of all the things that his daughter was likely to be subjugated to. He could see in his mind eye his daughter strapped to a table like this one, a deep slice going down her body with her organs on display while Kurotsuchi rooted through them. He imagined her with her fur shaved off and staples going around her forehead. He pictured her with dozens of tubes going into her body and gathering her fluids for study.

"What are they going to do to us Mapa?" she whispered.

He felt his throat tighten in despair and her body shivered against his. He was glad the younger cub was asleep and not partaking of this conversation.

"Probably everything we do at home," he answered, his voice catching. "Taking your weight, measuring how tall you are, checking your body motions," he expounded.

"Reading the picture chart?" she added.

"Yes, but this one will probably have numbers and letters instead of pictures."

"Good thing I know my numbers and letters," she tried to sound happy about it, but it failed.

"Yeah, you are a good girl," he agreed.

He wanted to hold her so badly, to wrap his arms around her and never let her go. To comfort her and tell her every thing was going to be alright, even though he knew it wouldn't be. He could feel the tears start to slid down the side of his face as more and more things that would likely be done to the cubs raced through his mind. The world was turning blurry as his tears clouded his eyes.

"Enough," Kurotsuchi finally snarled, and jerked harshly on the leash. "Back in your cage specimen."

Hijastro choked as one of the choke chains was pulled tight. Her cry of pain woke her younger sister, who started to cry in distress and try to burrow under him.

"I wanna stay with Mapa!" she protested.

"Do you?" Kurotsuchi suddenly asked with a wide grin.

Szayel felt his blood run cold. Time was up and Kurotsuchi was about to start on him. He did not want his daughter, or either cub for that matter, to witness the atrocities that were about to be committed against him.

"It's okay Hijastro. Go back into the cage."

"But the floor hurts my paws. I wanna stay with you," she protested.

"I will see you later," he promised, even though he had no way of knowing if he would ever get to see her again. He would sooner that her last memory of him not be that of one where he was sliced into ribbons.

"Promise?" she looked at him hopefully.

"I promise," he assured her, praying he wasn't lying.

"Okay," she reluctantly agreed.

Hijastro herded her younger sister into her cage, despite the terrified cubs protests, but at least they were together now as Kurotsuchi didn't seem to care that the two cubs were now in one cage instead of two.

"Return them to the holding room," Kurotsuchi ordered his subordinate. "See to it they are fed and properly caged."

The man saluted smartly and quickly wheeled the cart out. Kurotsuchi stepped up to stand beside him and wiped a tear from his face with one finger.

"So intriguing. I look forward to learning everything there is to know about you," he chuckled.

"Please, just don't hurt the cubs."

"You are in no position to attempt to broker deals, _specimen_."

Szayel frantically thought, trying to think of anything he could do to secure the cubs safety. He knew that there was no way that tests wouldn't be run on them, but there had to be a way to at least make certain that the tests that were run wouldn't be harmful, that they would be benign in nature.

"I will not beg for you to leave them alone, such would be unreasonable," he licked his lips nervously as a plan began to fall into place. "But, I…" he hesitated, as much because he was actually reluctant to offer this as he was for theatrics, "I will quietly submit to your experiments and honestly answer your questions if you promise to conduct only benign experiments upon them," he whispered brokenly, not even needing to pretend to sound so desperate.

"Hmm?" Kurotsuchi intoned curiously.

"I won't fight you, I won't try to escape, all I want is for the cubs to remain unharmed, and be permitted to see them from time to time. They are accustomed to me running experiments on them, they would be a lot more co-operative if you let me assist in doing so. It would save time trying to subdue them and you know how dangerous stress can be to specimens, especially small and young ones.

He hoped Kurotsuchi was true to his word and wouldn't back stab him, assuming he agreed in the first place. His captor had rewarded him as promised with seeing the cubs when he had answered the questions. Unlike the cubs, he could take the things that were about to be done to him, H'tsu had definitely given him a lesson in pain management and a bigger lesson in humility.

"You are offering your full collaboration in this experiment, despite having a good idea on the many things I plan on doing to you, for the sake of two cubs, one that is not even your own?"

Szayel forced himself to nod his head.

"How extraordinary. I have never truly been that interested in the _nature_ of my research subject as I am in how they functioned, but here I find your clearly unhollowed like behaviour so….. intriguing.

"Very well, Specimen. As long as you co-operate fully I will stick to the rather boring, benign tests for the cubs, at least for now. As you did point out, large amounts of stress could kill the only two specimens I currently have access to and that simply won't do. I may even let you attend should I be in a good mood. Now that that is out of the way, shall we begin?" Kurotsuchi questioned with a wide grin.

Swallowing nervously, Szayel nodded his head and gripped the chains attached to his wrist restraints tightly as he braced himself for whatever painful experimentation was going to be conducted first.

(TIME)

Two hours later Szayel walked naked down the hall behind Kurotsuchi, his body shivering in the cold air but otherwise unharmed. Nothing too invasive had been done to him, at least not yet. They had done the basic things, getting a base line of how he was doing now so they would have something to chart.

He had been surprised when his restraints had been fully removed before starting. His first instinct was to attack his assailants and get to the cubs, but he quickly curbed that emotion. First off, drained as he was attacking someone even as inferior as Kurotsuchi was would be impossible. Second off, the punishment for doing so was not something he wanted to find out. He strongly suspected the cubs would face Kurotsuchi irritation with him, not himself.

So meekly and obediently he went trough the paces of a full, through, examination as his captor poked and prodded every inch of his body. Reflexes were measured, temperatures taken from several locations on his body, some of them rather uncomfortable. He was swabbed and scrapped, tapped and prodded. Lights were shun in every crevice and probes sent up several more. Through it all he grit his teeth and bore with it.

"Excellent! I did say good specimens get rewards, come," Kurotsuchi declared at the end of the humiliating examination.

Without a word, he had followed, walking down several white corridors lined with keypad locked doors adorned with sliding windows at the top and bottom. They stopped before one door and Kurotuchi entered in the code on the pad, not even trying to hide the numbers.

It was an arrogance that almost broke his resolve to be obedient for the cubs, and he suspected that was exactly what Kurotsuchi had been trying to do. He literally had to bite his tongue to keep the sharp retorts back and he tasted his own blood as it dribbled into his mouth.

"Do try and get some rest, tomorrow is going to be a long, long day," Kurotsuchi grinned at him in such a creepy manner that he felt a shiver run up his own spine, and he had dealt with creeps most of his life.

Any thought of Kurotsuchi, revenge, and creeps left his mind the moment he walked into what was clearly going to be his cell. Still locked away in the cage, Hijastro and her sister were curled together in a small nest of two blankets.

Completely ignoring his escort, he rushed to the cage but hesitated on opening it. The door to the room opening had awoken Hijastro, who started up at him in disbelief before giving a happy exclaimed "Mapa!" She did not, he was pleased to see, abandon the protective circle she had made around her younger sister in their little nest.

"Can I take them out?" he requested, without bothering to turn around.

He knew Kurotsuchi was still standing at the doorway, and not just because the open door with it's occupant was reflected in Hijastro's eyes, but because he could feel the hungry gaze boring into his back, as if trying to devour his soul.

"You may this time, but fail to return them when instructed and you will never see them again."

He nodded his head to indicate his understanding and quickly opened the cage, reaching in to pull both cubs and their small nest of blankets out and into his arms. This woke the still sleeping cub and she let out a mew of delight as she spotted him. Laying one blanket down to help ward of the freezing floor, he pulled the two cubs against his stomach, pinning them between the padded wall and himself, and pulled the other blanket over them.

The cubs were warm and he envied them their fur. It took about half an hour, but eventually the blankets warmed into a semi warm nest. The cubs managed to sleep, their even breathing soothing to his frazzled nerves. Despite his own exhaustion, he found he could not follow them into slumber. There was no knowing when he would suddenly be ripped away from them, if this moment would be the last he ever saw of them. He tried to make his mind think of anything other than what could, and probably would the moment he slipped up, happen to the two little girls. Not even reciting the entire periodic table of elements, complete with their atomic weight and designations, helped calm him down.

When Kurotsuchi came for him in what he assumed was the morning, although it was impossible to tell time in the pitch black cell, he hadn't slept a wink. It was with great reluctance he enticed the two cubs back into their cage, despite their protest. When the cubs were secured the door to the cell was open and he was instructed to come out.

It was hard to do, and he promised them he would be back, even though he didn't know if that was true, and reminded them to obey the Shinigami. It calmed them down a little, but not too much. He was fed some sort of pudding type thing that was infused with Reiatsu. He reluctantly admitted it tasted better than the taffy stuff he'd made and briefly wondered what they were feeding the cubs.

Laying down on the freezing examination table when he was done, he found his wrist and ankles were once more restrained. This time Kurotsuchi did approach him with a tool he knew was going to hurt, and judging by the wide grin on his captors face, he had a feeling it was probably going to hurt more than was necessary. He just hoped the cubs were far enough away and the walls were insulated enough that they wouldn't hear his cries and screams of pain.

* * *

><p>Of course it was him, but how did he pull it off when he was with Shinji all night long? The answer will come eventually.<p>

Kyuu; I don't speak, um… is that Spanish? Looks a bit like French but feels off.

Afrieal; Wait four more level then go all crazy on em, bring a raid with you so someone can tank his adds while you light him up. Not sure I would eat his corpse afterwards though, probably taste like shit and there are no gnomes around to wash the flavour out with.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews and for taking time out during the busy holiday season to drop a note. Slowly closing in on 1000 reviews, which would be a new record for me.

Next Chapter: um, well, it's not written yet but I do know the first part is from Grimmjow's point of view and is kind of sad.


	48. Frustration

Frustration

Six days of pain. Not the worse he had suffered, H'tsu had done some pretty nasty shit to him, especially after he miscarried the first time, but it was still enough to pull a great many screams out of him. The only relief was that it seemed the cubs couldn't hear him from their room. He hated putting them in the cage when he was called away for Kurotsuchi's experiments, but at least the poor excuse of a creature was true to his word. The cubs had not been harmed as of yet and when they had been giving their through examination, twice so far now, he had been the one permitted to do it.

It had been hard, his entire body weak and in pain, but he had suffered through it with a forced smile and true words of praise as the cubs went through their paces and the information was recorded. Szayel could feel Kurotsuchi's eyes boring into them the entire time and he knew that the behaviour of himself and the cubs was being scientifically observed and documented. He didn't care, so long as the cubs were kept safe Kurotsuchi could do what he wanted. Time was running out for the idiot.

"C'mon Specimen. You know the drill," one of the guards ordered as the door to their padded cell was opened.

Use to the procedure by now, Hijastro helped him move the two blankets into the cage before herding her half sister in. They were not happy about it, but they complied. He had learned that they would be fed after he left, some sort of reiatsu infused nutritional porridge. Hijastro complained it tasted bad, but it seemed to be keeping them in health. The problem was that after forcing themselves to eat it for a week they were getting tired of it. In fact, his daughter had confessed she hadn't eaten her 'dinner' bowl last night, simply unable to force the stuff down.

"Hurry it up, unless you want me to inform Kurotsuchi-taichou you are refusing to co-operate," the guard threatened.

"I'll be back," he promised. "Remember to behave," he reminded the two cubs.

"Yes, Mapa," Hijastro responded, her voice depressed.

For six days they had the same conversation when he left. He prayed he would never be forced to make those words a lie. He got up and exited the room, turning left and walking down the hall towards the experimentation room. He was still completely naked, and while that normally wouldn't bother him, the way a few of the guards leered at him made him decisively uncomfortable.

"Ah, good morning Specimen. Eat, and than we will begin today's examination," Kurotsuchi ordered, indicating the pudding thing sitting on the examination table.

Szayel understood what Hijastro was talking about, it was getting tiring eating the same thing day after day. He could force it down, but it was much more difficult for the cubs. They were not use to such a specific meal day in and day out.

Kurotsuchi didn't like it when he spoke without being asked a question first though, so that made bringing the issue up far more difficult. He could take any punishment, but he didn't want the cubs to be punished for refusing to eat.

"Something seems to be on your mind Specimen," Kurotsuchi noted as he examined the tools on one of the trays.

"The cubs are finding it difficult to eat the same meal every day. They are not accustom to eating a solitary flavour," he answered honestly, staring at his own half eaten meal and feeling a small amount of relief that Kurotsuchi had started the conversation, unknownly getting him out of his own internal dilemma. Szayel licked his lips nervously and tried to sound as meek as possible as he made his request. "Would it be possible to add some flavour to their meals? Nothing special, just something to change the flavour a little."

"Humph, they should be thankful we are feeding them at all," Kurotsuchi sniffed. "Right now they are nothing more than dead weight and a convenient tool to garnering your co-operation. Things move faster when I have willing Specimens. Now lay down and let's begin," Kurotsuchi commanded.

He forced himself to finish the last few bites of his food and laid down on the table, flinching as the cold mettle became flush with his skin. The restraints were firmly latched on and he stared up at the cold, mettle ceiling.

Kurotsuchi began to speak, although not to him but rather to the recording devices set up to document the experimentation. He tuned it out, but it was difficult. Kurotsuchi's voice was almost worse than nails on a chalk board and it grated horribly on his nerves. Hopefully, he would not be here too much longer. It had been two weeks now since Grimmjow had impregnated him, two weeks since any form of a marker had been placed. By now his scent must be permeating for miles, assuming Kurotsuchi hadn't found a way to block it, but he doubted it. Mask it a bit maybe, but it could never be completely hidden. And yet, none of the guards had complained about an increase in activity, or at least haven't where he could overhear it.

He hissed in pain as a scalpel dug into his breast and he tried to hold his body still as he was sliced open. They went to smaller instruments after that as they studied and then surgically removed one of the milk sacs. At least they had the decency to stitch him back up properly and even slap on a bandage. He barely held back a whimper as a familiar machine was rolled up beside his bed, one that induced gut wrenching agony as the invasive reiatsu from it invaded his body at various levels and frequencies to see how the forming cub inside of him responded. He just knew that it hurt the cub and he honestly feared that continuing such a line of research was going to result in him miscarrying. He was not sure he could handle such a thing.

"Please, not again," he begged softly.

"Hmm, are you deciding to be uncooperative Specimen?" Kurotsuchi asked with a wide, creepy grin, as if _hoping_ Szayel would say he planned on fighting.

"It hurts the cub. Any more invasiveness and I might miscarry," he answered. "Unless…." he stared at Kurotsuchi in horror, unable to even contemplate the thought.

"As much as I would love to see an actual laying, your scent is becoming problematic and more difficult to suppress. It would be far too problematic to even attempt to secure your Alpha to refresh the markers. Thus, I have deemed it would be best to terminate this run and simply find a different mate to redo and continue the experiment, one that could maintain your markers. I did want to study how a miscarriage works anyhow," Kurotsuchi answered offhandedly.

"You can't do that!" he protested violently and began to fight his restraints. "Please, I can't go through something like that again," he begged.

"Again?" Kurotsuchi questioned intrigued. "Do expound."

He didn't want to, didn't want to remember the pain, both physical and mental, of losing his cubs. He didn't want to remember how violently H'tsu had mated with him after his first failure, how his thighs had been permanently stained red.

"Prepare the machine," Kurotsuchi ordered. "And bring me one of the cubs, the smaller one."

"NO! I'll tell you, just please, please don't hurt the cubs and please don't take this one from me," he begged.

"If you desire to keep this one, than I suggest you start giving me some data worth the effort of keeping you contained for the next two weeks."

Szayel nodded his head, and brokenly with a large amount of pauses interspaced with broken sobs, told him everything there was to know about the two miscarriages. He even told them about his first Alpha and how that relationship had ended. He was totally exhausted by the time he was done and his eyes were nearly swollen shut from his tears. He had to look positively abysmal.

"Spray him down, feed him, and return him to his cell," Kurotsuchi ordered once the data had all been received and recoreded.

His restraints were removed but he had a hard time sitting up. He accepted his cup of pudding like food and ate it without even tasting it. He was led back down the hall to a washroom and stood zombie like under the spray of barely warm water as his two guards gave him a quick scrub down, ignoring how one of them lingered a little too long on certain parts of his body. After a week of pouring out sweet and being sliced into he was starting to smell. The slice in his chest was re-bandaged and he was escorted back to the cell he shared with the cubs.

He quickly got them out of the cage and curled up in the corner with them, sniffing and rubbing against them to assure himself they were both there and safe. His daughter was safe. She was here. The cub growing in his stomach was still there and not taken from him, at least, not yet.

"Did you eat dinner?" he forced himself to ask once he calmed down enough he was certain his voice wouldn't crack.

"Yes Mapa," Hijastro answered. "There was fish in it this time," she announced happily.

"I am glad you liked it," he offered her a small smile. At least one of the things he had asked for had been acknowledged. Now if only he could find a way to keep Kurotsuchi from forcing a miscarriage on him.

Somehow he just knew that one of the main reasons that Kurotsuchi was interested in doing so was because it would completely obliterate the only bargaining chip he had for the cubs safety. Without that chip there was nothing he could offer to keep the cubs safe and they would find themselves on an examination table and being sliced up and injected with crap just like he was being subjugated to. The very thought made the marrow in his bones freeze.

He was hardly in the cell for an hour before he was summoned again. This was the first time such a thing had happened since his incarceration and he had to forcibly fight back a panic attack. The only bit of relief he felt was that the cubs were not ordered back into their cage. Hopefully that meant he would not be gone for long. He was led back to the examination room, his body trembling in the cold air, a sure sign it was night time now. Kurotsuchi was waiting for him with several of his minions and that truly did not bode well for him.

While he knew that Kurotsuchi didn't like him to speak without being spoken too, he figured he would be excused for this as he humbly thanked his captor for seeing to it the cubs were fed something more substantially. Hopefully, his meekness and appreciation for such a thing would help negate whatever sick thing was about to be done to him this time.

"Humph, at least you know your place, most of the time. Now than, as you know we have a bit of a dilemma. It would be rather unfortunate to have to terminate this pregnancy so soon, although I must confess I am eager to see if your particular unique design would not permit a Shinigami, or even a human, to successfully impregnate you."

The 'normal' part of him felt horrified over the very idea of being raped by either race while the scientific part of him was honestly curious to know the answer as well. He didn't think it would work though since there was no egg for either species sperm to meet with. Granted, a Shinigami, or very spiritually gifted human, might succeed simply because their semen would still be infused with their reiatsu, and sperm are, essentially, DNA. It would never work the other way around as Hollows did not have sperm to meet with the egg, but this way, yeah, it might just work.

"_Or, would it work as long an actually male/female role was observed?"_ he couldn't help but to muse_, "Sperm is just DNA, and DNA is still ejaculated during intercourse, even if the form is different. If hollow DNA did reach a viable egg would the two mesh?"_ he wondered curiously. _"It would never work male hollow to male Shinigami or male hollow to male human as the male body of either species is not capable of producing offspring, but the other way…."_

"So," Kurtsuchi continued, walking over to a table to pick something up and breaking Szayel out of his thoughts, "I have devised an artificial render of your Alpha's reiatsu and DNA. Truly not that hard to acquire. If this infusion does not negate your scent than I am afraid I will have no choice but to personally study a miscarriage," Kurotsuchi smirked at him, turning back around with a rather large mettle cylinder that did taste faintly of Grimmjow's reiatsu, although it was just a little off. "Do be a good specimen and bend over." Kurotsuchi's smile somehow widened as he approached with the large cylinder.

Swallowing nervously he did as instructed, turning around and resting his forearms on the examination table. He half hoped this would work as he had no desire to lose his cub, but if it did than it was going to make finding him far more difficult. As it was every hour his scent would spread further. Sooner or later someone would notice it.

It was difficult to force his body to relax, and even as relaxed as he could get it still hurt as the cylinder was forced inside of him. He hissed in pain and leaned down to bite his arm to keep any other pained noises down. The cylinder was far too big and he suspected that it had deliberately been designed that big just to hurt him. The shot of liquid reiatsu that was forced into his body was both a relief and uncomfortable. It would take a day or two to see if it actually worked, so he had that long at least.

The device was removed from him and he let out a soft sigh of relief. His rear was aching now and he remained leaning over the table for now, ignoring how the same guard that had lingered over his body when washing him earlier was leering at him with a barely concealed tent in his hakama. He hoped Kurotsuchi had good control over his men because he could tell that one could become an issue if left to his own devices. The last thing he wanted was for the cubs to witness him being raped in front of them if the man decided to 'pay him a visit' during his turn at guard duty.

"As usual, your co-operation is appreciated, Specimen. Return him to his chamber," Kurotsuchi ordered.

On shaky legs, he walked back to the cell he shared with the cubs. Hijastro looked up at him in concern and he forced a smile on his face to assure her he was fine. Her little half sister was sleeping away contently.

"Mapa, how much longer are we going to have to stay here? I don't like this place," she questioned as he joined them in the small nest.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, pulling both fuzzy bodies tight against his own, mindful of the gash in his chest from today's earlier procedure.

"Mapa?"

"Yes Hijastro?"

"Are…. are they hurting you?" she questioned, tears threatening the corner of her eyes.

He winced at the question, but answered as honestly as he could.

"Some test do hurt," he admitted. "But, needles hurt too and they are harmless," he pointed out.

"True," she agreed, seeming slightly more at ease.

With all of the threats hanging over his head, he found he couldn't sleep. When he did manage to drift off for a few minutes all he could dream about was his time spent in an almost similar room with furious, blood lusted golden eyes glaring at him and the pain that had been inflicted upon his body and his soul as he lost two lives to circumstances completely out of his control.

"_Ichigo, Grimmjow, __what is taking you guys so long?__"_ he questioned silently, pulling the two sleeping cubs closer to his body.

(POV)

For over a week they combed every inch of ground in Soul Society, and even scoured every last one of Kurotsuchi's labs three times over, including several 'decommissioned' ones they discovered during the investigation. There was no sign of the missing pack members. Kisuke had been able to confirm that a gate had been opened to Soul Society where the trail had ended in the Living Realm, he had even been able to identify the Shingami responsible for opening the gate. His body had been found two days after the investigation had started and had been a former member of the 5th Division. Shinji had made the identification and Unohana had declared he had died of a well known poison, apparently willingly digested.

Each day that passed set the Alpha pair that much further into an instinctual nightmare. While people expected Grimmjow to get snappy and aggressive, no one had expected Ichigo to out shadow his Arrancar mate. 7 days they had been searching, and in those 7 days Ichigo had only slept for a grand total of 10 hours. That was not healthy even for a Arrancar, and Ichigo was still pregnant. No matter how much they tried to get the Pack Alpha to rest, he simply could not, not while two of his daughters were still missing.

Grimmjow was actually becoming the more calm and rational one. Loss of cubs was not new to him and, while it hurt, such was the savage way of Huecu Mundo. Not that he was going to give up searching so long as there was hope. Not that he wasn't going to tear the culprit to itty bitty pieces when they found out who it was. But this was something that just was, something he'd lived with for as long as he could remember.

Ichigo had no such savage upbringing and the loss was starting to tear the Alpha apart. This was not good for either Ichigo's health or the health of the cub forming inside of him. His reiatsu was in a flux and that effected the cub. It was not an easy thing for Grimmjow to do, but something had to be done before Ichigo hurt himself and his unborn cub and there was only one person Grimmjow felt safe talking to about it. Well two really, but only one of the two could probably actually do something about it. Oddly enough, both Shinigami were currently together when he sought her out.

"I see," Unohana sighed as he finished explaining the situation to her. "Kurosaki-san can be rather single minded at time. The years and fatherhood have calmed him down some, but I do understand and share your concern. I could sedate him…" she mused.

"We do not know what kind of effect that might have on his cub," Jushiro pointed out.

"It shouldn't have any. The cub is pure reiatsu at this stage and, as such, there is no physical body to absorb anything I might give Kurosaki-san," she waved Jushiro's concern away. "The real danger is exactly what I believe you said it was Grimmjow-san, Kurosaki-san's fluctuating, distress reiatsu. I just pray he will not hate us for this later," Unohana sighed.

"He can hate me all he wants. I WILL not lose this cub when the other two may already be dead. It's hard, it's unfortunate, it hurts, but that's just the way things sometimes go. We got three other cubs back at the den that need us as well."

"I do not envy you this decision," Jushiro sighed. "But I understand. I have a large number of siblings that rely on me and I pray to never need to face a similar situation with them."

"Grimmjow, it has been a week, and from what I understand from the information Szayel has shared with us over the years, a week is a long time not to have his markers refreshed. If he was anywhere in this city, you would have picked up his scent by now, would you not? He's clearly not here, is he?" Unohana questioned sadly.

"It's been two weeks," Grimmjow confessed. "If he was here any hollow would know it. Either he's not here, or he's dead." He said it coldly, calmly, but the thought of loosing the only reliable source of food for their upcoming cub was painful. Hopefully, the fact Ichigo was the one carrying would make it easier to meet the up coming cub's dietary commands.

That was another issue. It had been three weeks since Ichigo had let him top the Alpha, and the egg would be laid soon. They needed to get the nest ready and prepare themselves for any complication's Ichigo's human heritage might create when it came time to lay the cub. There was no guarantee that Ichigo's 'labour' would go as smoothly as Grimmjow and Szayel's had. It was also time to refresh Ichigo's markers, but cornering his mate to mount him was damn near impossible in Ichigo's current frantic state.

"I am sorry we could not be more help Grimmjow," Unohana said softly.

"We will let you know if any news or clues are found," Jushiro assured him. "Until then, let's go find your mate and see if we can't lure him into your den. Will you be returning to the warehouse?" Jushiro asked as they all rose.

"No, that place has been compromised. Only a fool returns to a discovered den, and fools do not live long in Hueco Mundo. I think, for now, we will den up at his father's house as it has the next best line of protections," Grimmjow answered.

The three of them headed towards Ichigo, ready for a fight but hoping they didn't have to use force to convince Ichigo to rest and think about the cub he was carrying, and the three he had left behind at the den. They had to be missing their parents as well, especially the two little boys who were missing their triplet sister.

(POV)

Ichigo was exhausted, but he just couldn't get his mind to shut down. He had actually reached the same conclusion as the others, that Szayel wasn't here, or he was dead. Ichigo doubted the second though, otherwise why bring him along in the first place? He was getting restless as well and it took an exhausted, scathing remark from H'tsu to point out that they should be getting ready to nest soon, that the egg would be ready to be laid soon. Zangetsu was the one to remind him of the other cubs waiting for him back in the Living Realm, whom hadn't seen their Papa and Mapa in a week. He had to think about the rest of his pack too.

"Ichigo."

He looked up as Unohana, Jushiro and Grimmjow joined him.

"Hay," he greeted them, unable to hide the exhaustion in his voice, so he didn't even bother to try in his next sentence. "Any luck?" he questioned, even though he already knew the answer.

"We have concluded that your pack mate at least is not here, and if he is not than the cubs probably are not as well," Jushiro was the one to dare the news.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Ichigo sighed unhappily. "I **KNOW** he did it, we just can't find any proof," Ichigo growled. "Nothing, not a shred of evidence and he is laughing at us while we flounder around," he snarled.

"Ichigo, calm down. You need to rest. Your reiatsu is completely out of sync and that can not be good for the cub you are carrying. We will not stop searching, but you at least need to take a day or two to rest and assure your other cubs that you are safe and that they are safe," Unohana admonished gently.

"I… yeah, you're right," he sighed in agreement. Even though he didn't like it, he knew she was right and had even been thinking the same thing himself just moments ago. "The rest of my family and pack must be getting worried by now."

He made to stand up, but Renji came waltzing into the room with a look of semi delight. Renji had been deployed with one of the search teams scouring Hueco Mundo so his return had to mean they found something.

"Yo Ichigo, I got some good news for you, even though it's not the news you were hoping for," Renji announced with a small flare of triumph.

"What is it Renji?" Ichigo couldn't help but to ask with a faint stirring of hope.

"ITSYGO."

A green blob was suddenly attached to his chest, holding onto him tightly and nearly knocking the wind out of him.

"I found Nel," Renji sighed as the excited girl announced her presence before Renji could really set his friend up.

"Nel!" Ichigo gasped, hugging the little Arrancar tightly to his body. "I looked for you several times, where have you been?" he demanded.

"Pwayign tag with my bwothers," she answered honestly. "Until Hawible-sama fwond us," she announced happily.

"Who?" Ichigo questioned confused, although he did notice his mate had stiffened in surprise at the name.

"Hawible-sama, she took Newl and her bwothers in when the scawy Shinigami were looking awound," Nel answered excitedly.

"Harribel?" Grimmjow breathed in surprise. "She's still alive?"

"Yes, I am. Thank you for your concern, Grimmjow."

All eye turned to the woman standing in the doorway as Renji scratched the back of his head a bit sheepishly.

"Please explain, Abarai-fukutaichou," Unohana requested with a smile.

"Well, during our search for Szayel and the missing cubs, Nel just came out at me from nowhere, followed by several other Arrancar that looked a little pissed to see us. I managed to keep my group calm, barely, and the fact that Nel and her brothers knew me helped keep things settled enough explanations could be made and a fight avoided," Renji answered vaguely. "Our search apparently led us close to Harribel and her pack's den."

"It is my understanding that I have you to thank for finding and rescuing my fraccion from their impressments," Harribel stated.

"Um, I guess. Were they in the group Kurotsuchi was holding?" he questioned curiously.

"They were the three chicks hanging out in a group with one of them knocked up," Grimmjow supplied.

"Oh," he recalled that group clearly since, as Grimmjow had noted, one of the girls had been with cub. "Did everything go alright, was she able to feed her cub?" he questioned worriedly.

"Yes, Yukina is healthy and growing quickly," Harribel answered.

"That's a relief," Ichigo sighed. "Yukina huh? That is a pretty name," he smiled, unable to keep from thinking about his own two missing little girls. What he wouldn't do to have them in his arms right now.

"I heard rumours that Las Noches was being rebuilt," she commented.

"Yeah, we have been working on it for some time. I wanted to make a safe haven for those that just want to live in peace and raise their cubs safely since neither Soul Society nor the Living Realm is really the right place for my packs cubs," he answered before looking at her in a different light. "Where you thinking of joining us there?" he questioned curiously.

Anyone who would care for Nel and earn her trust was bound to be alright in his book. The little Arrancar was clearly happy and well taken care of, not to mention anyone that could put up with her 'brothers' and not kill them must have patience reserves of legendary proportions.

"The thought had crossed our minds," she confessed. "Nel and her 'brothers' have had many good things to say about you," Harribel turned her attention to the quivering child still latched onto his chest.

"I try," he admitted. "Did Renji tell you what's going on?" he questioned.

"He did," Harribel confessed. "Unfortunately we have detected no trace of your missing companion and cubs. We will, however, join the search if you desire. I find myself surprised that I never noticed what Szayel was until it was pointed out," she gave her head a small shake.

"Yeah, me too," Grimmjow finally joined the conversation. "How big is your pack?" he questioned. "And will they have any problems with Ichigo being their Alpha?" he added.

"There are eight of us with one cub. None of us will have any issue following…." Harribel suddenly paused and looked at Ichigo oddly. "Are you with cub?" she questioned, surprise in her voice.

"Yes," Ichigo answered honestly. "Grimmjow already gave me four wonderful cubs, I felt it was only fair that I carry the next one. It also would give me an idea on what the Betas are going through."

"Interesting," she murmured. "You are an interesting person, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Harribel, do you truly wish to join our pack, even if it means you may have to lower yourself to me?" Grimmjow questioned.

Harribel raised an eye at him.

"We are a mated pair," Ichigo explained.

"I see," she closed her eyes and seemed to ponder the question before opening them. "We will join you. If it seems like things are not working out, than I will leave. So long as my girls are safe that is all that truly matters to me," she declared after several tense minutes.

"Now that that is settled. Are you ready to get some rest, Kurosaki-kun, or must I use force?" Unohana questioned with a closed eyed, wide smile that sent a shiver down pretty much everyone's spines.

"Um, I think I am ready to rest now," he answered with a suddenly dry mouth.

"Good. Grimmjow-san, if you could get your mate to where ever you plan on denning down. He should seriously think about getting a nest ready, and I am sure your markers need to be refreshed as well," Unohana reminded them.

"Can Nel come too?" Nel asked.

"Of course," Ichigo smiled down at the girl still latched onto his chest. "We can introduce you to the other cubs," he assured her.

"An I can stay?" she questioned with a look that screamed she was ready to bawl should she get any other answer than yes.

"Yes Nel, you can stay with us, for as long as you want," he assured her.

"Yes!" she cried in delight and crawled her way up to sit on his shoulder. "We can stay Hawible," Nel announced excitedly.

"Where is the rest of your pack?" Grimmjow questioned.

"Still in Hueco Mundo," Harribel answered.

"Let's gather the rest of our pack and head to Las Noches. We will meet you and your pack there Harribel," Grimmjow declared.

Harribel nodded her head and followed Renji out. Ichigo followed Grimmjow outside a moment later, catching the tail end of Harribel's Garganta closing. Renji was no where in sight so Ichigo figured his friend must have returned with her.

"We will keep searching Ichigo, don't give up hope," Jushiro encouraged.

"Thanks," he offered them a weak smile before following Grimmjow through the Garganta his mate created.

The moment they were through the gate he noticed something seemed off. Yylfordt was not sitting on the roof of the Clinic where he had self exiled himself in penance for failing to guard their cubs, in fact, as far as Ichigo could tell, no one was home. The place was completely empty…

* * *

><p>As usual love all of you that took the time to review. I love each and everyone of them.

This chapter was rather hard to write, especially the part from Grimmjow's point of view. Sadly, I believe this is how he would respond after a week of receiving no trace of his missing pack members.

Mapa. You have no idea how long I agonized over what to call the 'mother' of the cubs when both were male. Mapa actually just came to me last Chapter as I was typing away. I honestly like it and am pleased you all seem to like it too. Feel free to use it.

Remember waaaayyyy back when I declared my reason's for H'tsu's name and how the hollow half of Ichigo's soul had declared he was Zangetsu? Well, I was re-watching Bleach for motivation with Prize of Victory part 2 (now on 240 prewritten pages, the first 150 have been edited) and found the episode in question where the event occurs. It was Episode 123. Not sure which Manga chapter it would equate with even though I could probably find it. I got too much to do than scroll through the wall of Manga.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you all enjoyed The Real King: Christmas Special. If you haven't read it you should.

This Chapter was 5 pages shy of page 500. Not bad for what was suppose to be a one shot gift for Black Storm. Curse my inability to write one shots. Let's break that 1k review barrier this chapter, I know you can do it.

Next Chapter: I am not going to tell you and leave you to squirm and wonder what happened to the rest of the pack. /evil smirk followed my maniacal laughter.

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA


	49. Stumble

Stumble

The building shook, waking the cubs up and instantly catching Szayel's attention. He had just managed to doze off despite the pain radiating from his ass from the tube Kurotsuchi had forced up it a few hours ago.

"Mapa?" Hijastro questioned, her voice tinged in fear.

Her little sister whimpered and tried to burrow under him, mewling in fear. The building shook again and he felt a mixture of fear and excitement. Judging by the lack of panicked shouting he doubted Ichigo and Grimmjow was behind the shaking, which led him to guess something big, like a menos grande or maybe an Adjucus, had latched onto his scent and was giving his captors a hard time. If he was lucky it might just do enough damage to give him a chance to escape with the cubs. If not, well, this just might be the final push to make Kurotsuchi decide to force the miscarriage. Not something he wanted to contemplate.

"Into the cage," he ordered, moving the blankets and cubs into the cage and trying not to think about things like miscarriages.

The cage was small protection, but it would deter smaller debris from landing on them if the ceiling started to give way. Szayel remained on all fours, the two cubs beneath him so if anything did make it through the cage it would hit him before them. It was also the only way the three of them fit into the small cage. He watched the walls like a hawk, looking for any weakness. The cage was rather cramped and wasn't intended to house someone of his size, but it was the only cover in the room. He could feel the cubs trembling against his stomach and he did the best he could to sooth them.

The door to their cell suddenly opened and the very guard he knew was going to be a problem was smirking at them. Szayel didn't need telepathy to read what was going through that ones mind.

"With all the commotion and Kurotsuchi-taichou gone for the evening, no one would notice anything amiss if I take a few minutes to entertain myself," the man chuckled as he took a step into the room, hands going for his belt.

"I won't let you hurt the cubs," he declared firmly, bracing himself for a struggle.

The cage, ironically, offered him some protection and cover from the bastard. It was not going to be so easy to pull him out of the mettle mesh box. The guard looked like he was going to say something, probably lewd, but he suddenly stiffened, shortly before a blade erupted from his chest and blood spewed from his lips.

The blade retreated and the guard fell to the floor, laying in a growing pool of crimson as his blood escaped his body. Szayel turned his stunned gaze up from the now dead guard to his rescuer, honestly expecting it to be Kurotsuchi who had so violently dealt with his disobedient soldier, and was held in stunned shock himself at the very pale and slightly shaking visage of a blood splattered Kurosaki Karin.

(POV)

Karin sighed as she headed off to school, looking up at the person perched on the roof on her home with a sense of sadness. Yylfordt hadn't moved from the spot he had self exiled himself to unless if it was to take care of any hollow that came close enough to be considered a threat. He was taking the kidnapping of the pack member under his watch fairly badly. In fact, he only ate when Karin jumped up onto the roof to deliver the food to him and ordered him to eat.

She had tried to beat some sense into him, it wasn't entirely his fault after all. No one had ever predicted anyone would tunnel into the den and he was most certainly not the only one to have been there. Grimmjow, Ichigo and Tesra were just as much at fault for failing to notice the intruders, arguably more so since they had actually been _inside_ the den instead of patrolling outside, where the protective shield prevented anyone from feeling what was going on inside.

Still, the last words spoken between him and the Alpha pair had been scathing and it was eating the Arrancar up. The loss of his brother and niece probably wasn't helping any, despite what sort of indifferent front the brothers put up when it came to each other. Karin knew family and she knew there was a respect for each other that neither one would ever admit to.

Yylfordt's standing in the pack seemed to have dropped thanks to this horrifying event. Karin had always stood beneath him when he was around, but now he was slinking past even Tesra and Yuzu, the two Omega's!, when their paths happened to cross. One advantage was that when she ordered him to eat he obeyed without a fight, but it was still wrong. She didn't like seeing him so dejected.

"Something bothering you Karin?" Yuzu questioned.

"Just worried about the cubs and Szayel," she answered half honestly.

She was worried about them as well of course. Each day that went by was another day the trail went colder and harder to follow. Every day that passed meant it would be far less likely they would ever find them. She had watched enough true crime programs to know that.

"Yeah, Ichi-nii should be having his child soon too," Yuzu added with a mixture of excitement and worry. "I hope they are having good luck and that's why we haven't heard a word from them," Yuzu sighed worriedly and looked up at the sky. "The cubs are really starting to get worried, especially Cachorro. He's old enough to understand what's really going on."

"Yeah," Karin agreed.

Cachorro was getting depressed, asking for his sisters, Papa and Mapa, and they had to coax him to eat. She had only learned yesterday that he had been sneaking up to the roof at night to sit next to Yylfordt, watching and waiting for any sign of his family returning. She understood. Karin had no desire to go to school, but this was her last year and it was insanely important that she score good grades to get into a good school. Orihime, Chad, Tatsuki and Ishida were searching the city the best they could just encase the kidnappers were still here, when they had time. As humans they had jobs they had to maintain to pay the bills and they all took turns spending the night at the Clinic as an extra level of security in case the kidnappers came back for another go.

Karin sometimes wondered why she bothered going to school right now. By lunch she hadn't absorbed a single thing, simply stared out the window and fretted. With a sigh, she packed her books and left the grounds, heading to one of the local café's popular with students when the lunch bell rang. She didn't even taste her meal, barely ate half of it and was stirring the rest around on her plate with her chopsticks as her mind wandered.

"Yeah, it's the third explosion this week. They police think it's gang related and have put out a reward for any information."

Karin's ears perked up as she quickly turned around, just in time to see the trio of girls from her school leave the small shop. Sighing, she turned her attention back to her unfinished food before pushing the plate away. Lunch break was almost over and the café was emptying quickly as students returned to school.

"You look like hell Karin,"

Karin turned her attention to the waiter. It was Keigo, one of her brother's old high school friends. She hadn't seen him in a while now that she thought about it. They had all been busy with their lives and she honestly didn't hang out with Ichigo's former high school friends. Had seen less and less of them as College, University and jobs took over their lives.

"Something going on? Ichigo hasn't returned my texts in a week," he complained. "No one has, not even Orihime-chan and she is usually good about saying hi," he pouted unhappily.

"Yeah, he's been busy. What were those girls talking about? Something about an explosion?" she questioned concerned.

"There's been several accidents over the last week; explosions and buildings being damaged," Keigo answered. "Right now the police are claiming it's gang related violence but," Keigo bit his lip and looked around a bit at the now almost empty café before leaning in to speak lowly, "two explosions for sure were just those hollows fighting with some Shinigami. Not Affro-san, but some others I don't recognize."

Karin, who had been taking a drink of her pop, nearly spewed it out at Keigo's revelation. She had forgotten her could see the spiritual world, just like all of her brothers close, or formerly close in some cases, friends.

"Say what?" She demanded in a loud whispered, grabbing Keigo by the front of his apron and pulling him closer. "Are you saying you have seen Shingiami fighting hollows, ones you do not recognize?" she demanded sharply, barely managing to keep her voice quiet enough that the few other patrons couldn't hear what she was saying.

"Well yeah, but aren't they suppose to?" Keigo questioned with a shrug.

"True," she sighed dejectedly. Still….. "Keigo-san, where did you say you saw them?" she questioned.

(TIME)

Karin scowled at the poorly drawn map on the back of one of the café's napkins. She really should have gone back to class, but she was so desperate for any hope that she just couldn't ignore the chance to do _something_. Besides, it wasn't like she had been absorbing any of the information the teachers had been trying to cram into her head anyhow.

"I am beginning to regret this idea. No wonder the police think it's gang related," she scowled as she looked at the very rundown neighbourhood. It had taken her an hour on the train followed by a twenty minute walk to get here. She wasn't even entirely sure what town this technically was.

She was getting a good number of looks from the few people she did pass, most of them sizing her up as potential prey. Her crisp and clean school uniform really stood out here. Fortunately, she was one tuff nut and the way she walked showed her confidence. She could kick half of these losers asses on a bad day; sparing with an Arrancar partner and running after hollow hybrid children sort of helped a lot there.

"Still, not a place I would want to walk down at night," she mused looking about the rundown neighbourhood.

She was about to turn about and head back the way she came when she heard it, the distinctive echoing cry of a low level hollow. She changed direction and marched towards it, forcing herself not to run, not because she was afraid of such a small fry but because she didn't want to draw anymore attention to herself than necessary from the inhabitants of this run down neighbourhood.

She rounded the corner just in time to watch three Shinigami pin down a hollow with kido before finishing it off. She did her best to look straight and not let her eyes slid their way as she walked past them, acting as oblivious as possible to their presence as any normal human would be.

"Chu, damn things are becoming a royal nuisance. This is the fourth one today," one of them complained.

"It's been getting worse too," another snarled in annoyance.

"Tell me about it. Hopefully this will get cleared up soon. I didn't sign up for this sort of thing," the third added.

That was all the three said before they leaped back up into the air and out of Karin's hearing range. As far as she was concerned, it was enough. It was more of a lead than any of them had had yet and she knew just the person to bring it too.

She ran as soon as she was in a safer neighbourhood and bounced impatiently as she waited for the train, bouncing almost even more as the hour long ride back seemed to take an eternity. As soon as she was within local calling distance she pulled her phone out and quickly dialled the number for home. Long distance would chew her minutes up in seconds and she didn't have any cash on her to buy more if she ran out. She could not afford to run out.

"Hello?" an uncertain voice answered the phone hesitantly.

"Tesra, get Yylfordt on the line now. I don't care if you have to pry his self reproaching carcass from the roof with a crowbar, just get him on the phone," she ordered.

"I'll try," Tesra offered.

She waited for several tense minutes before she heard his voice come onto the line.

"Um, hello?" his voice sounded rather uncertain. Neither Arrancar were that familiar nor accustom to using this kind of technology.

"Yylfordt, it's Karin. Do you know where the train station is?" she demanded.

"I think so. Why?" he questioned confused.

"Meet me there ASAP. My train should be arriving in about fifteen minutes," she ordered.

"I can't leave my post. Someone had to protect the remaining cubs." His voice sounded more dead than protesting.

"If you're that worried about them than get Tesra and Yuzu to bring them over to Urahara-san's shop. It's arguably safer than the house anyway with dad helping at the hospital for the day. Yuzu should be home from school any minute. Just meet me at the train station, I may have found a lead but I am going to need your nose, and muscle," she ordered excitedly.

She could practically feel him stiffen on the other side of the phone.

"What makes you think you found something?" he questioned in a strained voice.

"I came across three Shinigami I didn't recognize bitching about an increase in local hollow activity. They said they fought four alone today. Even with Ichi-nii flaring himself around like an all you can eat buffet we never saw that many in a day. Something must be drawing them there," she answered.

Silence on the other end of the line.

"I will be there as soon as I can, after I see to the rest of the packs safety."

"Alright. Oh, Yylfordt, since you don't have a gigai, make sure you grab a hat and a jacket that covers your chest. As long as your hollow heritage is hidden and you keep your reiatsu suppressed the Shinigami shouldn't be able to tell you aren't just another human."

"I'll see you in a bit," he promised, a bit of life in his voice.

Karin hit the end call button and began to chew nervously on her lip as she put her phone away. She hoped her intuition was right. It would go a long way to restore Yylfordt's confidence if he managed to be the one to find the missing members of their pack. She missed the old confident him that wasn't afraid to show her the right end of a katana, who appreciated it when she joined him on his patrols around the den on the nights she didn't have school, and mountains of homework. It was only recently she had really started to notice how incredibly handsome he actually was, for a hollow. And smooth too, did she mention how smooth he was?

The train arrived and she hopped off. She sat on the bench to wait for him, but after a minute she found she just couldn't sit still and started to pace. There was a small window before the train going back the way she came would arrive for loading. She didn't doubt Yylfordt could catch up to it, but seeing a 'flying human' might make for some interesting, and unwanted, press. He would have to bring her since he had no idea where the place was and she doubted he would be able to follow the instructions that well. For all the time they had spent in the Living Realm, her Arrancar pack mates were not that familiar with its workings, with the exception of Szayel who still retained his human memories.

"_What was Keigo doing in that neighbourhood anyway?__"_she suddenly questioned herself curiously as she thought about where she had been and how much of a wimp Keigo was. She was lost in that thought when a hand suddenly rested on her shoulder.

Karin reacted quickly, gabbing the offending limb and jerking it around to toss the body over her shoulder, or at least that had been her plan. Yylfordt was considerably stronger than she was and he just raised an eye at her antics as he easily spun her around to face him.

"Oh, it's you, good, come on," she grabbed his hand and dragged him back onto the train before it could depart.

He let her do so since it would have been impossible for her to force him if he didn't want to go. He did hesitate at the door though, uncertainty in his posture. It only got worse as the after school crowd boarded as well, making the train rather packed and the Arrancar very uncomfortable. Karin pulled out her phone and held it to her ear, but didn't turn it on.

"The rest of the pack is at Urahara-san?" she questioned.

"Yes. He says you may be on to something and he was going to let Yoruichi-san know and send her after our trail," a pause, "why were you so far from your school?" he questioned accusingly.

Karin filled him on how her day had gone and what had lead her so far out of town. The fact she had her phone to her ear spared her from many odd looks. He listened, frequently fiddling with the hat on his head and scowling equally between the press of people and his reflection, no doubt displeased with his current wardrobe. One thing the brothers definitely shared was a very vain attitude on their appearance. The hat had to be uncomfortable sitting on the fragments of his hollow mask.

Karin kept his hand in hers as it kept it off of his Zanpakuto, and the train free of a sudden large slew of dead people. She tired to keep him between herself and the corner of the car they were riding in since no one could actually see him and she swore he was ready to kill the next person who jostled into him. This resulted in her being pressed against him in the rather crowded train and the heat from his body made her all to awear of how close they were standing.

"Easy," she murmured half an hour later. "We are halfway there," she assured him, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. He was positively shaking against her in a desperate bid to not lose his cool at the crowded conditions of so many 'lesser creatures.' And heaven forbid, human sweat, dirt and germs were getting on his clothing in the cramped quarters.

"How do you humans live like this?" he questioned in disgust.

"Practice. The train will start to empty soon as more people get off," she assured him.

"I am going to need an hour long shower and new wardrobe when this is over," he grouched.

Karin couldn't help but to smile.

The train did empty as they got closer to their stop. She led him off the train and down the street, but didn't release his hand, or rather, couldn't. He had her hand in a damn near death grip to stop himself from doing something rash. In all honestly, she didn't mind.

"This way. Remember, as long as you keep everything suppressed and hidden the Shinigami should think you are human. The didn't even spare me a second glance as I walked right by them so I doubt they will look at us if we see them so long as we act casual."

"I got it. Just lead the way."

Karin led him down the streets, retracing her steps to where she had spotted the Shinigami and hollow earlier. She could tell the instant he picked something up because he suddenly stiffened beside her and rose his head to the wind. She watched him for a moment before he suddenly started leading her instead of the other way around.

"Yylfordt?" she questioned, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice.

"There is definitely a pregnant hollow around here, one who's markers are damn near gone," he answered, his own voice quivering in excitement.

"Can you tell if it's Szayel?" she questioned.

"No, but how many could there possibly be with markers that far gone?" he questioned, excitement clear in his voice.

She suddenly found herself being pressed against his side as they walked down the street. His entire body was quivering and she had a feeling he was holding onto her to keep himself from doing something rash. She let him lead her through the streets and even leaned more firmly against him so that to any outsiders it would look like nothing more than two lovers walking down the street. She blushed a bit as that thought crossed her mind, a blush that deepened when she realized the thought didn't bother her as much as it should have.

"_Stupid teenager hormones,"_ she grouched. _"And at a time like this too. I thought I was immune to such stupid things, yet here I am now thinking about crap like how handsome he is, or how warm he is against my side when I should be thinking about the cubs," _she berated herself harshly.

"There, that building," Yylfordt pointed out a large brick building behind a brick wall complete with an iron wrought gate and barbwire all along the fence.

Karin forced her teenage libido to take a hike for now, with a promise to return to the subject later, and looked over to the sign beside the gate as they walked passed it.

"Looks like an old, abandoned mental hospital. Makes sense," she mused as she forced him to keep walking pass the building, doing their best not to show any interest in anything other than each other.

To other humans she must have looked silly leaning on the air, but other humans wasn't who they were interested in fooling with their act.

"There are at least four Shinigami on patrol," he murmured into her ear, causing her to shiver as his breath ghosted over the shell. "I can see two of them."

"This must be the place. Why else would there be Shinigami guarding a human building?" she said firmly, once more forcing her libido back under control.

She tightened her grip on him as she felt him tremble slightly and kept them moving. She could feel his muscles coiled and ready to spring into action, but now would not be a good time to expose themselves. There was no knowing how many were in the building, or what sort of traps there might be. While she had no doubt that Yylfordt could take out the trash, hell she probably could, if Ichigo was right in his suspicions than there was fully powered Taichou in there too, and that was pushing it for him and was so far out of her league that it didn't even bear mentioning.

Karin didn't stop moving them along until several blocks away and out of any potential sight and mind.

"Okay, we found them, now what?" she questioned.

"From what I could detect there were at least 4 Shinigami outside, and maybe a dozen inside. They are weak, barely even strong enough to be considered prey. Kurotsuchi was there too," he snarled. "I will never forget the taste of his foul reiatsu," his body shivered against hers.

Kurotsuchi had done a great many things to Yylfordt, things Karin never wanted to know about but could map on the scars left on his body. She knew the shiver was in as much fear as it was in anger.

"He has to be keeping appearances up in Soul Society or we would have heard about it. If he were to leave what do you think our chances of a prison break are?" she questioned.

"Without him, we would have no problems breaking in and out," he answered. "As long as the cubs are near Szayel finding them won't be an issue. Even if they are not we should be able to detect their unique reiatsu signature. The real issue might be any traps they got set. He is a cleaver fucker. Even if he does leave his subordinates might call him back if we attack," he pointed out.

"What we need is some sort of diversion. Something to keep them busy while we sneak in," Karin mused.

They pondered in silence, the sun slowly setting and more eyes looking her way and sizing her up as dusk fell and the more seedy characters took to the streets. She never noticed the locals eyeing her up as prey though. With Yylfordt at her side they were so far below a threat that bacteria was more dangerous to her right now than they were.

"I don't suppose that lesser hollows would obey your command, would they?" she suddenly questioned.

He looked down at her, silently asking her to elaborate.

"They were bitching about an increase in attacks. What if a small pack attacked them? They are pretty weak. Send in just enough to keep them annoyed and distracted without needing to call in reinforcements. Just enough to be a pain and keep them chasing their own tails."

"While it is a good idea, I don't want to risk one getting past them and harming the cubs," he tossed her idea aside before staring at her contemplatively. "On the other hand, I could easily keep them busy and running around like a bunch of idiots while you slip in and out."

Karin looked up at him in surprise. Ichigo would have never considered, let alone consented, to the idea of putting her in harms way, and the trust Yylfordt was showing her to do this made her puff up with pride.

"Can you narrow down where he might be in the building so I am not spending so much time floundering while looking for them?" she questioned.

"Easily in the lower levels, somewhere near the back. Once you get closer you should be able to track their reiatsu. You are far better at sensing things like that than Ichigo-sama."

"True enough," she admitted, puffing up even more at his praise.

"Here, I brought this," he opened his jacket and handed her the simple katana she had been training with over the last few years.

Karin took the blade and hid it under her jacket for now. They were still going to want to appear as normal humans and normal humans generally did not carry around visible weapons.

"I am going to go into my reserreccion. In that form they might confuse me for just an ordinary hollow. If they know they have an Arrancar on their steps they will definitely call for backup."

Now that perked Karin up. She had never seen his reserreccion and she was eager to see it. With a plan in place they walked back towards the building, once more with her nestled against him as if they were lovers so they could speak lowly without drawing attention to themselves.

This time Yylfordt didn't detect Kurotsuchi's presence, indicating he had probably returned to Soul Society for now. He led her around the brick wall until he was as close as could be to the scent he was tracking without giving the game up. The Shinigami on guard had barely glanced at them.

"Go," he suddenly ordered as he leaped into the air and brought them down on the other side of the fence.

Karin ran towards the building as an explosion of reiatsu rushed out behind her. A red beam of light flew past her and slammed into the wall, giving her a way inside without needing to worry about doors and covering her running figure from sight with a wall of dust. Although, with the storm Yylfordt was creating she doubted anyone was looking at the ground with him being so loud in the air.

She could hear the cries of alarm rise up as Yylfordt started to attack the building. The ground shuddered as if something heavy hit it and she had to force herself to keep running down the halls, drawing the sword as she did so. She found a stairwell and flung a leg over the railing, sliding down to prevent any noise that running down the stairs might create, not to mention it was faster, saved energy, and was, maybe, just a little bit fun.

She finally picked up the reiatsu signature of the cubs on the last floor and met her first true obstacle, a fully secured and locked door complete with key code requirements.

"Well shit," she cursed as she glared at the keypad and solid door that no simple katana was going to get through. Oh why didn't she have any nifty energy attacks she could use to bust through the door?

The building shook and nearly threw her off of her feet. Yylfordt was defiantly making his presence known. The light on the door suddenly turned green and the next thing she knew she was staring at the surprised face of a male Shinigami.

She didn't think, only reacted. She lunged forward, her blade going into the surprised man's chest with ease. Blood bubbled out of his mouth as he continued to stare at her in surprised, before sliding off of her blade and landing boneless on the ground at her feet. Karin just stared at the dead body and her bloody blade in numb shock.

She had just killed someone. She felt her hands begin to shake, but another rumble of the building broke her out of her stunned thoughts. She stumbled over the body, trying not to look at it as she ran down the white hall towards where she could hear the whimpers of frightened cubs, adrenaline keeping her moving and preventing her from dwelling on what she had just done.

Another Shingiami blocked her path, this one with his back turned to her and seemed unaware of her presence. He was more interested in whatever was behind the door he was opening. Good, maybe she could knock this one out. She had no real desire to kill anyone.

"With all the commotion and Kurotsuchi-taichou gone for the evening, no one would notice anything amiss if I take a few minutes to entertain myself," the man chuckled lewdly.

That was all Karin needed to hear, although the sound of one of the cubs whimpering certainly helped spur her on. She rushed forward and thrust her sword through the mans back before pulling it out. Blood splashed on her face and hands as she it sprayed from her victim, who fell to the floor lifelessly, thankfully face down so she wouldn't have too look at this ones unseeing eyes. She stared at her stained hands in shock and felt the need to be sick.

(POV)

The room shaking again broke both Szayel and Karin out of their respective states of surprise and shock. Karin ran up to them, her hands still shaking and her skin still pale, but she was moving and that was a good thing. It was going to be tuff dealing with two frightened cubs while they escaped, let alone three.

"Here, take her," Szayel ordered as he handed her the little girl. "Hijastro, stay close, okay?" he ordered his daughter.

"Yes, Mapa,"

He pulled the blankets around his body to cover his nudity from Karin's eyes and took the sword from Karin's shaking fingers before she hurt herself, or one of them. She gave it up without a fight or any sign of protest.

"Do you know the way out?" he questioned.

"Yeah, this way." Her voice was shaky, but she was still thinking. That was a good sign.

He followed her out, making sure Hijastro stayed close by his side.

"What's going on?" he questioned as she led him down the hall and to the stairwell.

"Yylfordt is making a fuss while we get out," she answered, her voice shaky but clear.

"What about everyone else?" he questioned.

"There is no one else," she answered.

He almost stopped moving in shock. He did notice the other body on their way out the door leading to the unsecured corridors, also cleanly ran through. Karin had done a pretty good job actually, but he decided to hold off his praise for later as it clearly bothered her at the moment, as made clear by the way she shivered and averted her gaze from the unseeing, glazed over in death eyes that stared up, a look of shock still on the dead man's face.

She led them up the stairs and through several corridors before stopping before a hole in the wall that had clearly been created by a cero. Up in the air Yylfordt was in his reserreccion, charging groups of Shingiami like the bull he resembled and scattering them without actually trying to kill them. He was acting like some dimwitted hollow and the idiots were falling for it. Who knew his brother could actually be so clever?

"Amazing," Karin breathed as she took in his brother released form, momentarily forgetting about the men she had killed.

"Yylfordt!" Szayel shouted up to his brother.

That caught everyone's attention. The moment the Shinigami foolishly took their eyes off of the hollow they were fighting to stare down at the escaping prisoners in shock, Yylfordt returned to his normal state and finished the fools in a single burst of Sonido and precise slashes of his sword. He landed before them before the first body even had time to start falling.

"We need to move quickly," Yylfordt snapped, grabbing Karin on one side of him and Szayel on the other. Both passengers held tightly onto a cub each as the world blurred. The spot they were standing dissolved under their feet under a cloud of purple poison and their retreat was followed by the freakish cry of a demented baby.

"So close," he whimpered.

Szayel shivered as his brother raced away from the prison he had been held in. He had first handed experience with that poison and it was not something he wanted to repeat, even more so for the cubs to ever experience. It would definitely have killed Karin.

"That…. thing is after us!" Karin noted, a hint of panic in her voice.

"You! I am going to dissect you in ways you could only dream of!" Kurotsuchi's infuriated voice rang out way too close behind them. "I am going to return you both to a world of pain unlike anything you have felt before!"

Both Karin and Szayel felt Yylfordt shiver against them. For all that Kurotsuchi had done to him, the bastard had done far, far more to his older brother before the Alpha pair had rescued him. Burdened as he was with four passengers, Yylfordt couldn't hope to outrun the furious taichou with his Bankai on their asses. They all knew it.

"When I get my hands on you the cub is gone. As for the other two, I will let you watch while I slice them open and take their organs out!" Kurotsuchi screeched. "You will all be in a world of such **ERK**!"

Kurotsuchi's rant suddenly died off and the furious mutated caterpillar thing on their tail suddenly ceased chasing them.

"You should be lucky I am the one that caught up to you first because Ichigo is so beyond pissed," a female voice taunted.

Yylfordt finally stopped running and set them down. Szayel looked behind them to see their pursuer imbedded in a wall with Yoruichi hovering in the air not far away, a look of rage on the usually laid back woman's face.

"Stay out of this," Kurotsuchi snarled at her.

"If I were you I would start running," Yoruichi declared coldly. "He doesn't hide his presence very well, especially when he's this pissed."

Even as weakened as he was, Szayel could still taste the furious reiatsu of the Alpha pair. They were closing in rapidly. Ichigo's reiatsu tasted so much like H'tsu's right now that it sent a shiver of fear up his spine.

"Papa?" Hijastro questioned, looking excitedly in the direction she could detect her father coming from.

Kurotsuchi was also looking that way now too, and unlike the rest of them, his face showed nothing more than abject terror.

"This isn't the end of this!" he snarled before slamming something onto the ground that burst into smoke. When it cleared, he was gone.

Ichigo and Grimmjow arrived a second later, both of them in their released forms, no doubt for faster travel, and radiating so much fury that it was a wonder Szayel could maintain consciousness in his weakened state. In fact, Ichigo looked more like a hollow than a Shinigami right now; his face covered in a horned mask, his hair exceedingly long and his skin pale white. It was hard to tell through the thick waves of hair, but Szayel almost swore there was even a hole going through his chest.

"Papa!" Hijastro cried and wormed her way out of Szayel's limp grasp.

"_**Hijastro**_!" Ichigo cried out in a very gravel and hollow like voice, turning about and catching his daughter as she jumped into his arms.

Now that Ichigo had turned about Szayel could see the hole going through his chest, as well as the markings on said chest. He had only seen this form once before from the recorded images of when Ichigo had fought Ulquiorra. Unlike then though, Ichigo was clearly in control of his faculties. It was almost as if the Alpha was letting H'tsu use his body since the hollow part of his soul had been drained with the pregnancy. The transformed state didn't stay for long, and melted away to reveal the hybrid in his bankai form as he held tightly onto his daughter.

Karin let her charge go and the little girl was in her Mapa's arms so fast he almost didn't see her move. Grimmjow held onto his daughter as tightly as Ichigo did, nuzzling her and just taking in her presence, assuring himself his offspring was safe.

"Ichi-nii," Karin sighed in relief, catching her brother's attention.

"Karin…" whatever Ichigo was about to say never emerged from his lips as he took in the blood splattered on his sister and her slight shaking from the adrenaline and just overall situation, not to mention registered the fact she was here.

"I killed them," she said in a relatively dead voice, one Szayel recognized as the onset of shock. "I… I just reacted. The door opened and I stabbed him." Karin was trembling now. "And the second one…." she couldn't finish.

Ichigo moved towards her, but he already had a rather large hysterical cub in his arms and thus had no spare one for her as there was no way that Hijastro was going to let her father go anytime soon.

"Karin," Szayel called her attention to him.

She looked at him with haunted eyes.

"They were hurting me, and would have hurt the cubs given a chance. The one in the doorway to our cell was about to really hurt me while making the cubs watch. You stopped him before he could. Given a chance he would have hurt you too in ways that I have no desire to mention. Even if you hadn't killed them, Kurotsuchi would have, probably in very long and painful ways, for letting us escape. They were soldiers, they knew what they were getting into," he assured her in a calm voice, deliberately letting the blanket he had wrapped around him fall a bit to reveal some of the damage Kurotsuchi had inflected on his body.

Karin still shook a bit, but she seemed slightly calmer and some of her emotion had changed from self torment to anger. Yylfordt came up behind her and pulled her against his chest before whispering something in her ear. Szayel didn't catch what it was, but he saw her relax a bit more into his brothers grasp, and was that a hint of a blush?

"C'mon. Let's get back home." Yoruichi broke the gathering up. "We need to get word to Soul Society about what went down here. I'll stay here and make sure that…."

A large explosion resounded in the distance, lighting up the night sky with a bright orange.

"Shit," she cursed.

No one had any doubt that the explosion had come from the lab, destroying any evidence that might have been there. Szayel was not surprised, he would have done the same. He had actually been expecting as much to happen.

"If it's not too much to ask, I would really like to go home, and have a shower," Szayel requested with a shiver, recalling all too well the feeling of unfamiliar and invasive hands, and equipment, touching and probing his body in intimate and painful ways, sometimes even both at the same time. He had some really good painkillers he could really use right about now.

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Ichigo agree, removing the strap from around Hijastro's wings with a slice from Zangetsu before adjusting his grip on his daughter.

"I knew you would come Papa," Hijastro purred happily.

"Always," Ichigo agreed.

They traveled back to Karkura town via Sonido. As tired as he was, he didn't even protest as he was carried by Grimmjow. His markers desperately needed to be refreshed. Yylfordt carried Karin, who seemed rather comfortable in his arms and had seemed to drift off, no doubt burnt out now that her adrenaline had run out. It was not a bad idea actually, and Szayel followed her example, held safe in the arms of one of the Alpha pair.

* * *

><p>Welcome home Blackstorm, and what better welcome home thing is there to see than an update? And thank you all for your reviews, and breaking the 1k review barrier. It makes me feel so soft and cuddly inside.<p>

So, who all expected Karin and Yylfordt to be the rescuing pair? I had to remind myself this wasn't Prize of Victory and not have her going in kicking ass and taking names. In this fict she is still a 'school girl' and didn't grow up in Aizen's dark future. I thinking killing people would definitely bother her.

This was another little side pairing thing I only thought up like, a few weeks ago. I had no plans on keeping Tesra and Yylfordt together as a couple, they only mated under duress and Tesra is a little too soft and submissive for Yylfordts taste.

Speaking of Prize of Victory, the interlude between part 1 and 2 by Black Fox is up on adult fan. ?no=600012768 It focuses on Renji and Nel and has tons of sex.


	50. Nestle

What better support could you ask for Blackstorm than an updated chapter. I am actually really pleased with this one, particularly the middle part with Karin. It's amazing how much of a contrast she is between here and POV.

Nestle

Ichigo remained curled up in bed with all five of his cubs nestled against him in what almost appeared like a giant bundle of fur broken only by the protective shell of Hijastro's wings. The reunion had been beyond joyful and the rest of the cubs had spent a good fifteen minutes rubbing against each other and reaffirming both that they were together and safe as well as strengthening their pack bonds. Grimmjow had taken Szayel elsewhere upon their arrival at Kisuke's shop, probably somewhere to quickly refresh the almost none existent marker and so that Kisuke and Isshin to check on Szayel's condition. They had been in a bit of a rush and hadn't really had time to make sure Szayel was okay before rushing back to the safety of the shop.

Yylfordt had also taken Karin somewhere, hopefully to a room for his sister to rest in. Ichigo desperately wanted to see to Karin, and to Szayel as well of course but his sister was the far more fragile one. He understood how it felt to kill another rational being as the death of Ulquiorra still haunted him on occasion, but at least Ulquiorra had been an Arrancar, had looked less than human and more like a winged demon when they had battled. Karin's victims might as well have been human. Also, unlike the history he shared with Ulquiorra, Karin had no ill will towards the two she had killed.

Yes, Ichigo very much wanted to see to Karin, but he had other responsibilities here and the cubs were in far more need of him right now than his sister, not that it made leaving her alone for now any easier on him. The cubs had just settled down curled together against his chest when Grimmjow arrived.

"How is he?" Ichigo asked worriedly.

"His markers have been refreshed and your father and Kisuke are looking over him now, but they didn't seem too worried, or at least they didn't when I left," Grimmjow answered honestly as he joined his mate and cubs in the bed turned nest.

Their daughter was quick to curled up to her Mapa and Grimmjow returned the attention as the two of them nuzzled and reaffirmed their pack bonds. Like Ichigo had done to both of his daughters, Grimmjow checked his from nose to the tip of her tail, checking every inch of her for any sign of injury or maltreatment. Once satisfied, Grimmjow let out a very slight sigh of relief and curled more contently amongst the pile of cubs and his mate.

"Is Mapa going to be alright?" Hijastro asked, being the first to break the silence.

"He's going to be just fine," Ichigo assured his daughter.

"I knew you would come Papa," Hijastro purred, nestling comfortably against him.

"Of course Papa would come," Cachorro added. "No one can stop Papa."

"No one," Hijastro agreed with a small flutter of her wings, mindful of the current cramped surroundings.

"Hay, what about me?" Grimmjow protested.

"Mapa is really strong too," Cachorro agreed.

"Better believe it," Grimmjow smirked at their son.

"Papa, are we going to stay here now?" Cachorro questioned apprehensively. Kisuke's shop was uncomfortable for the cubs as they were far more comfortable with the wide open spaces of the old den, not the cramped shop or Kurosaki Clinic/house.

"No, we are going to move to Las Noches tomorrow. There are some new friends waiting for us there that are going to help keep everyone safe," Ichigo answered.

"What kind of new friends? Will there be people our age?" Cachorro asked curiously.

"One little girl at least," Ichigo answered honestly.

"Really? A girl my age?" Hijastro asked excitedly.

"She's about the same age as Ternero," Ichigo answered.

"Yay, another girl!" Hijastro buzzed excitedly.

So far it seemed like both cubs were handling their week of captivity just fine. As much as Ichigo wanted to remain curled up with his family, he caught sight of his father at the doorway. With a feeling of dread, he untangled himself from his family with a promise to be right back. He slid the door closed behind him as he stood in the hall with his father.

"How is he?" Ichigo questioned concerned, dreading the answer but needing to know anyhow. It couldn't possibly be worse then what H'tsu had done to him.

"More or less fine. Kurotsuchi did some rather invasive things to him, but nothing that won't heal with a little bit of time. The cub is stable as well and perfectly healthy. He's a little traumatized but it could have been infinitely worse. As far as he knows nothing was done to the cubs, but he wasn't with them 24/7," Isshin reported.

"Both seem fine and Hijastro said they just stayed in the cage when Szayel was taken away. It could have been so much worse. If Karin hadn't stumbled across those gossiping girls we might have never found them," Ichigo shivered, not even wanting to contemplate the very idea of never seeing his daughters again.

"Well, I think Szayel would feel better if you check in on him and then let him curl up with the cubs for a bit. I am going to check on Karin, and possibly have a few words with my patients brother," Isshin declared.

"At least you have good things to report," Ichigo noted.

"Oh, Szayel's health won't be what we will be talking about," Isshin said darkly as he wandered off to find Karin.

It was rare Ichigo saw his father acting so mature, and right now it was something he appreciated. It seemed even his goof off of a father knew when to put the silliness aside, and this was certainly one of those times.

Leaving Karin to the dubious care of his father, and wondering what on earth Isshin could possibly have to say to Yylfordt that him upset, Ichigo finished his journey to the room Szayel was currently being monitored in. Kisuke was in the room with him and it seemed like they were scanning for something with equipment Ichigo didn't recognize. Being fresh out of university meant he was up to date with the latest medical equipment, which led Ichigo to quickly conclude that this was another device built by Kisuke for non human matters.

"How are you doing?" Ichigo questioned as he sat down on the floor next to the futon the Natural Beta was currently laying on while Kisuke checked him over.

His naked body didn't even phase Ichigo anymore but he was a little disturbed to see the fresh slices in Szayel's body, and at the same time relieved to see there were so few new ones.

"Fine, all things considering. It was close though. Another day and he was going to force a miscarriage since my scent was getting out of control," Szayel answered, his voice hitching at the end.

Ichigo had never really noticed this 'scent' that his hollow pack mates spoke of when it came to pregnant hollows, but he had certainly noticed it when he had rescued his missing family. The strong scent was gone now thanks to the markers being refreshed. Despite himself, he felt a twinge of jealousy even though he had been all for the idea of giving Szayel another cub after all the Scientist had done for them.

"Anything else that piece of shit did to you?" Ichigo questioned dangerously, his eyes flashing golden and his reiatsu briefly surging in anger.

Isshin was a doctor and trustworthy, but he was not Szayel's Pack Alpha and as such, there were some things that Szayel might not have felt comfortable talking to Isshin about while feeling obligated to tell Ichigo.

"There were things he threatened, but I made sure they were not carried through, at least when it came to the cubs. Still, it was close and I think his patience was ending," Szayel answered honestly.

"Alright, it looks like you are clean, at least of anything we need to worry about such as surveillance parasites. There are some drugs and stuff that will work their own way out, but they are not a threat to anyone here," Kisuke reported as he turned the machine off. "Obviously he wasn't expecting us to find you. We should have thought to more thoroughly search the Living Realm. It never occurred to me that Kurotsuchi would set up a base here," Kisuke said in a self reproaching voice, clearly upset that he hadn't thought about such a possibility.

"What is going to happen now?" Ichigo questioned. "I mean, we let him off the first time but there is no way I am going to accept Yamamoto overlooking things this time. I don't care what Central 46 has to say, he is paying this time. This was a direct attack against my pack and family and I will not stand for it," Ichigo declared firmly.

"For now, let Yoruichi deal with Soul Society, she already headed over to report what we know and get our teams recalled from Hueco Mundo. In the meantime, you have an egg you will be laying soon and a new nest to set up in Las Noches. Not to mention a sister's honour to uphold if what Yoruichi had to say is true," Kisuke chuckled.

"Huh?" Ichigo questioned confused. "You mean Yuzu and Tesra? I noticed they were getting closer together, but they are both so shy and Yuzu wouldn't do anything like that until she's older. I was expecting them to eventually get together since the others often commented that the Omega pair often become mates. As long as he treats her right, which I feel he will, I don't see the issue. It would be rather hypocritical of me to deny them a relationship if they desire it."

"Oh, that's good," Kisuke smiled as he pulled out his fan and hid his face. "So then you won't mind it when Yylfordt and Karin start making out on the roof?" he asked coyly.

"Say what?" Ichigo spluttered. "He had better not be looking at Karin that way."

"Why Kurosaki-san, you just said you had no problems with Yuzu and Tesra," Kisuke pointed out in a happy voice.

"They are different. Hell, Yuzu is practically the Alpha in that relationship, but I will not have Yylfordt pressuring Karin into anything, especially so soon after everything that happened," he growled as he made to march out of the room.

"You do know that telling her no will just make it more likely she will go after him, right?" Kisuke asked as Ichigo reached the door.

He paused and let out a sigh, knowing Kisuke was right. Teens were like that. The more you told them not to do something, the more they were likely to do it. It wasn't that long ago he was a teenager himself and Karin was just as stubborn as he was. Oh yes, telling her no would just make her do it to spite them. In all honesty though, he trusted Karin's judgement.

"Tell Yylfordt you refuse to let him court her until she is of acceptable human age for such things. As Pack Alpha he will have to obey, or risk punishment from the Alpha Pair," Szayel spoke up, reminding Ichigo of the reason he was there and that, unlike Karin's potential future relationships, Szayel's mentality was something that needed addressing now.

"That just might work," Ichigo pondered. "Are you two done here?" he asked, turning to look at them again and apparently forgetting about his new vendetta against the older Grantz brother.

"Yes, he is clear to return to the pack and is free of any surprises Kurotsuchi might have tried to hide," Kisuke declared happily.

"Good, the cubs have missed you. Let's get you settled down for the night. It's been a long and trying day."

Szayel didn't argue with that and followed him back to the room where the cubs were waiting for him. Szayel was swarmed before he even fully finished settling down. Another round of nuzzling and inspecting began as the pack mates greeted their lost member's return and reaffirmed their bonds. The scene very much reminded Ichigo of a documentary he saw on African Wild Dogs years ago, minus the wildly wagging tails.

(POV)

Karin was still shaking hours after the incident and no matter how hard she scrubbed she couldn't get the sight of blood off of her hands. The dead eyes of the man she killed danced before her vision and she felt tears threaten the corner of her eyes. The once hot water had long since run cold, and indication of just how long she had been at it.

"NO!" she denied sharply. "They were bad people. I did what I had to and I will not feel guilty for killing such scum. For fuck sakes that second one was clearly about to force himself of Szayel while the cubs were right there!" she snarled to herself.

It helped, a little. They were hardly innocent, but still. She had taken two lives, had ended the existence of two people that may have had family that they were never going to see again, that would grieve their loss. They could have been fathers who had children, and if it was one thing she knew, it was the overwhelming grief of losing a parent. Was there, even now, a little girl sobbing because she had learned her father was killed?

A warm body was suddenly pressed against her back and strong hands captured hers, stopping herself from scrubbing her hands together. It was a good thing to because her hands and fore arms were bright red and even beading a bit of blood from where she had scrubbed so hard she had broken the skin.

"Enough, you did well and have nothing to be ashamed of for killing scum like them," Yylfordt whispered in her ear.

"I still killed them," she whispered.

"Yes, and they would have killed you, or worse. Do you feel remorse for stepping on a bug?" he questioned.

"Not really," she answered.

"Than feel no remorse for killing them, for that was what they were, nothing more than vile leaches and cockroaches. Who knows how many others they had hurt, they could have even been some of the ones that did this to me."

Yylfordt pulled up the left sleeve of his shirt to reveal dozens of scars of various depth, shape and length from the time he had spent as one of Kurotsuchi's specimens. As the scientist's first Arrancar specimen, he had suffered far more than most and had been in the mans lab for months longer than any others; almost an entire year.

Karin stared at them and slowly let a hand drop the sponge she had been using to try and wash the now invisible blood from her hands to trace one of the scars on his arm. She felt his body shiver against hers and his grip tightened slightly, not enough to hurt, but enough that she noticed it, enough to let her know that the memories still haunted him, even through his tough façade. She had never seen him let that mask slip, and the fact he was doing so now, letting her see the haunted look in his eyes reflected in the mirror they were facing, oddly helped calm her and feel less guilty.

"They were bad men, people who had hurt many," she repeated. "They just would have killed and hurt more people, tortured them in unimaginable ways."

"That's right," he agreed softly, pulling the sleeve of his shirt back down to hide his scars, or tired to.

Karin rested a hand over the one trying to pull his sleeve down and turned in his grasp so they were facing each other. She pulled the sleeve back up and traced her fingers over the myriad of scars that adorned his skin. She knew he was somewhat vain so she understood what these scars meant to him, how much they hurt not just physically, but psychologically.

"Hiding these will not make them go away," she whispered as she continued to trace over them.

"They have no good memories," he declared.

"Not even your son?" she questioned.

He stilled in her arms before relaxing again.

"I guess there is that," he agreed. "He is almost ready to earn a name of his own. I had never really guessed I would have offspring of my own," he confessed. "or at least, none in my Hollow life as, according to Szayel, I had kids in my human life."

"Have you and Tesra been thinking about having another cub, especially since Ichi-nii and Szayel will both be laying soon and he gave everyone permission to mate if they wanted to?" she asked, surprised by how apprehensive she felt about how he might answer.

"No. Tesra, as good as a lay as he was, is not really ideal for my taste. He's too weak, and an Omega. We only mated because Kurotsuchi coerced us into doing so and it was better than more rounds of torture at the bastards hands," Yylfordt answered honestly.

"That doesn't really give you a lot of options," she noted, surprised at how much she felt her heart fluttering, and how relieved she felt that he wasn't interested in Tesra anymore. Granted, she had always felt that there was no love between them, not like the love Ichigo and Grimmjow clearly shared, a love that almost put rabbits to shame.

"I can think of one option," he breathed.

Karin hadn't even realized how close they had come, that she had even turned around in his arms, their breath mingling and lips just centimetres apart, until a loud, very disgruntled "AHEM" caused them both to jump back from each other, in Karin's case right into the sink.

"Damn it," she hissed, rubbing her sore back before shooting her father a death glare that could have made fire freeze.

She was seconds, damn near milliseconds, from experience what she was sure was going to be her first kiss with a very handsome male, and her bloody, goat faced, immature, horrible timing, useless, poor excuse for a father had to break the damn tension. The death glare she sent him actually gave her father pause.

"What?!" she gritted out angrily while Yylfordt quickly covered his scars and took another, cautious step away from her, clearly reading the threat from his intended target's father.

"I was just checking on how my darl…" Karin stepped forward and punched her father in the face, instantly silencing his goofy, happy attitude by shoving a good old knuckle sandwich into his face.

"In a mature manner," she snapped. "I am not eleven anymore, the dumb faced attitude has long since become redundant and is nothing more than an embarrassment," she growled angrily.

Okay, maybe she was a _little_ pissy that her potential first kiss had been interrupted by her father. Seriously, he had stalked Ichigo just waiting and happily anticipating his first kiss and now he had the gal to interrupt hers? She was so going to hang him out to dry if he didn't have one hell of a good excuse for this interruption.

Pinching his now bleeding nose, Isshin studied her for a second before standing up straight and taking on a serious demeanour. She handed him a towel and he quickly used it to stem the blood flowing from his nose, although she did catch the death glare her father tossed the Arrancar standing beside her.

" I was worried about you," Isshin answered honestly. "I am your father, that's my job and something traumatic happened to you today. I want to know if you are okay." The look of concern on his face was very real and Karin felt a bit bad for hitting him, but only a bit. He still could have waited a few seconds more before asking about her.

" I am… okay," she answered honestly, deciding not to bother lying and saying she was fine. He would see through that. "I will get over it," she assured him.

"I know you well. You are strong, like your brother," Isshin moved into the crowded bathroom and gave her a proper hug. "Your sister is worried sick about you. You should let her know you are alright," he suggested.

She hadn't even thought about Yuzu, who had come home from school only to be shipped off here without a word of explanation and then promptly abandoned with Tesra and the cubs. She hadn't even seen Yuzu since getting back and her twin had to be worried sick having no idea what was going on. Karin suddenly felt like dirt.

"I'll go see her now." She pushed her father away, relieved that he stepped back without requiring the use of a crowbar, and left the bathroom to see to her sister.

She did give Yylfordt a look of thanks for helping her deal with what she had done, as well as one that promised they would continue their 'discussion' later. He returned the look and she had to hold back a smirk at the grim look that crossed Isshin's face as she left.

(POV)

Isshin did not relinquish his place at the door as he eyed the Arrancar he had trapped in the bathroom. Yylfordt returned his challenge, holding his ground and looking him in the eye as they engaged in a silent battle of wills and reiatsu. Isshin was stronger, but Yylfordt refused to back down, a true sign of how interested he actually was in his daughter and Isshin felt a brief moment of respect and appreciation that Yylfordt at least was willing to stand up to a more powerful opponent for the right to court his daughter.

"She is not an Arrancar," Isshin broke the silence first.

"Neither is Ichigo-sama," Yylfordt pointed out.

"Ichigo is different."

"Ichigo-sama had given his consent to let us mate as we see fit so long as both parties are willing," Yylfordt pointed out. "While we normally simply combat and overcome a partner we are interested in mating with, I respect Ichigo-sama's wishes and have no intention of pressing such an advantage on Karin if she is not interested. As Ichigo-sama stated, both partners must be willing and I am not so shallow, nor foolish enough, to disregard that edict." Yylfordt said firmly.

"She is too young to even think about such things, nor do I believe you worthy, or responsible enough, to court my daughter," Isshin stated firmly, crossing his arms and glaring at the Arrancar interested in his daughter.

"You are calling me weak?" Yylfordt challenging, bringing his reiatsu up in challenge.

"I am calling you an irresponsible, hormonal male, regardless of your species," Isshin answered coldly. "You dragged her into a battle that could have gotten her killed. Now, my poor daughter had taken two lives and is traumatized because of it," Isshin growled dangerously.

"She brought me to the battle. You are a poor father figure if you can't even tell your own daughter would have gone in after me even if I told her not too. You can't protect your cubs forever. It sickens me, hell it even sickens Grimmjow, how you have only bothered to prepare your son for the real world while leaving your daughters weak and vulnerable. At least Karin has the strength to step up and try and fill in the gaps in her training that **you **have failed in giving her," Yylfordt growled angrily. "She is practically hollow bait with her reiatsu and you haven't even bothered to teach her how to defend herself from the most basic and mindless of our kind," he sneered.

Isshin actually felt a bit of guilt at that. He had known for a very long time that Karin could see hollows, and yet he could never bring himself to let her grow the way he had Ichigo. Karin and Yuzu had always been his little girls. Yuzu had flourished under his wings, while Karin was clearly feeling stifled. He hadn't even known that she had taken up swordsmanship and had been training with Yylfordt until Yuzu had mentioned it two days ago!

"_Ryuken is right, I am a terrible father,__"_he couldn't help but to think.

"I refuse to let you even think about courting my daughter until she is of the legal age," Isshin stubbornly held on.

"And what is that for humans?" Yylfordt questioned.

"In your case…"

"21," another voice piped in happily before Isshin could say never.

Both men turned their gaze towards a smiling Kisuke.

"Come now Isshin, you are the last person to be giving lectures on who, or what, your children should be dating," Kisuke announced happily, his eyes dancing in mirth and clearly enjoying Isshin's emotional torment.

"You stay out of this," Isshin growled at his long time friend.

"Now, now, you wouldn't want to be labelled as a hypocrite now would you?" Kisuke asked innocently.

Isshin scoffed, but couldn't really come up with a good comeback.

"However," Kisuke suddenly turned seriously, "Isshin is right Yylfordt. Karin has important human things she needs to do. Court her all you want, but be aware that your Pack Alpha would be very displeased if you were to Mate her before she is of an acceptable age, even if she is willing to accept your offer to mate. You saw how difficult it was for someone as strong as Ichigo is to balance everything. Do not do such a think to Karin," Kisuke warned.

"Or I guarantee it you won't be able to even think about, let alone **do**, such things ever again," Isshin added with a wide, frightening smirk.

Yylfordt did look suddenly nervous before giving a nod of his head.

"She's not quiet ready for mating anyhow. She still has some strength to grow into, and I intend to see her do so, since you seem incapable of caring for your cubs properly," Yylfordt challenged.

His words hurt Isshin more than he thought possible, and in his moment of stunned shock Yylfordt pushed his way past the ex Shinigami and disappeared down the hallway. Kisuke was silent for a moment before speaking up, all goofiness gone.

"He is somewhat right. Karin is strong and your children have learned much about what being mated to a hollow means thanks to Ichigo and Grimmjow. You know they both share in your son's pack."

"Yeah, and how do you think she is going to feel when he knocks her up and then leaves her once the child is older?" Isshin growled.

"I do not think he will," Kisuke countered. "Do not count his relationship with Tesra as a track record. As he stated, and as we both knew, that was a relationship forced by Kurotsuchi. Truly, the Arrancar are not so different from the Vizard. Has Grimmjow not stayed with Ichigo all these years?" he pointed out.

"So you think I am being irrational?" Isshin challenged.

"Oh goodness no," Kisuke was suddenly all smiles again. "If you were not being super protective of your daughter as her father I would seriously question your sanity."

Isshin stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter himself. Still, it didn't make it any easier and if Yylfordt did do something to hurt his precious daughter, well, he would be begging and crawling his way back to Kurotsuchi's lab because it would be a better fate than what Isshin would do to him.

"Maybe I should speak to Tesra too," he mused.

"Now those two I would definitely not worry about," Kisuke commented. "Yuzu is the dominate one in that relationship, has been since they met. She is considerably less rebellious and outgoing than Karin,"

That was very true. There was definite fondness between the two Omega's, but it hadn't quiet evolved into love, or even lust, just yet. It would probably be a while longer before Tesra was even interested in having another cub as he still had Ternero to care for.

"Well, if you are not doing anything at the moment, as you seem to be done terrorizing your potential future son in law," Isshin shot him a death glare, "you could come help us pack up the rest of the old den. Ichigo said they were going to move to Las Noches," Kisuke finished.

"Move to Las Noches! I will never see my grandchildren!" Isshin protested violently.

"At least it will be harder for Yyfordt to court Karin if he's in a different realm," Kisuke pointed out slyly.

"I'll help you come pack," Isshin offered. "I can always visit them on my days off."

Kisuke just smiled as the two men headed out. At least Isshin was handling the thought of his little girl dating an Arrancar rather well. One could tell because both males were still alive and in one piece.

* * *

><p>Thank you for those that that took the time to review. I was a little worried over what people would think of KarinYylfordt, and in all honesty it was a pairing that just came to me a few months ago and wasn't at all planned, like Tatsuki/Tesra in POV. It just sort of worked it's way in.

I'll see you all next chapter, or possibly, the first Chapter of POV2 which is, tentatively, slated for January 15th. I am dealing with major Post Partum and it has seriously affected my writing. So all I can say for now is to stay tuned and updates might be slightly sporadic until I come out the other side of this nonsense.

/hugs Blackstorm. Sorry there was no great sex and not a lot of Ichi/Grimm for you to enjoy in this chapter, but I am still honestly pleased with how it turned out.


	51. New Friends

New Friends

As much as Ichigo wanted to go to Soul Society to learn what they planned on doing about Kurotsuchi, he was coming up on the time he would be laying his egg, hopefully without any complications given his mixed heritage, not to mention history of damn near everything that could go wrong going wrong. As such, instead of heading to Soul Society like he really wanted to, he found himself walking down the silver path Grimmjow created as they traveled to Hueco Mundo. The path was a perfect one that reminded him of the one Unohana had made on their way towards the final battle with Aizen. Nothing like the rather hazardous kind he was known to make.

The two Alpha's were in the lead with the two Omega's bringing up the back followed only by Yylfordt, who was guarding the rear. Karin and Yuzu were rather excited to finally get to see another realm and no amount of arguing had been able to convince his sisters to remain in the Living Realm, at least for this trip. They would have to return in the evening as they did have lives, and school, to complete there. Or at least, Yuzu was going back. Isshin had called the school and gotten Karin a week off, citing she had born witnesses to a murder and needed a bit of time to recover. It wasn't even really a lie, even if they had omitted the fact that Karin had been the one to end those two lives.

Ichigo was very concerned over his sister's mental health, but he did have children of his own to care for. He would talk to her once they settled into Las Noches and met their new pack mates. If all went well, Harribel and her pack would be waiting for them with Kisuke on the other side of the Garganta. While he hadn't thought about it, Grimmjow had so everyone was expecting Harribel and her pack to meet them and it wasn't going to come as a surprise to anyone. The cubs, in particular, were excited to finally meet more of their kind, while still being cautious and weary as any good hollow cub should be when meeting others. After all, in most cases cubs were just easy pickings and made for a quick snack.

The light at the end of the tunnel started to shine brightly and grow as they made their way towards it. Soon, he would be stepping out onto the sand of his new home. He was both excited and nervous. He was looking forward to see what the place looked like after five years of renovations. Hell, he had seen what Kisuke could do in just a few weeks, what might he have managed in five years?

They finally stepped out into the light. As much as Ichigo wanted to look around to see how much the place had changed, his entire focus went towards the people lined up to greet them, Harribel in the lead with the rest of her pack lined up behind her.

"ITSYGO!" Nel shouted in excitement and raced towards them.

Cachorro ran passed Ichigo and put himself between them and the oncoming child. Nel skidded to a stop and everyone waited with baited breath as the two children inspected each other warily. The moment was tense for a moment, but it didn't last long as the two cubs shared a conversation none of the adults could hear. There must have been some sort of signal given, because the rest of his pack's cubs suddenly ran up to meet with Nel too while the little girl from Harribel's pack joined them from the other side. There was a large amount of sniffing and rubbing as they accumulated and introduced themselves to each other.

It was honestly surprising to Ichigo, who figured the cubs would be the last to meet, not the first. Cubs were vulnerable, so why would any pack want to let the cubs out first where they could be so easily attacked before parents could intervene.

"_**Idiot, when it comes to packs that maintain cubs, the true test of strength is in the dominance and power of the offspring. Any pack that raises cubs would never go after more cubs, they have evolved past that. Besides, as you have enjoyed pointing out to me soooo many times, they are no longer just plain hollows,**__**"**_H'tsu spoke up sleepily.

That actually made some sort of sense to him. Watching the cubs interact, he could easily see how Cachorro had quickly claimed dominance over the others, standing taller than them, even Nel.

Only now did Harribel approach them, the rest of her pack trailing behind her. Ichigo and Grimmjow moved forward to meet her, walking off to the side a ways so the cubs could continue to play and interact without adult interference. His daughters, in particular, desperately needed this play time to help them get over their kidnapping.

"She is a beautiful child," Ichigo, being the supreme Alpha, spoke first, indicating the little girl from Harribel's pack.

Her parents preened a bit, but remained quiet while their own Alpha responded.

"Your own cubs are amazing as well," Harribel responded. "And so many of them already. They are all yours?"

"All but Ternero," Ichigo indicated the only cub that clearly lacked a feline heritage. "He is Tesra and Yylfordt's. Hijastro here," Ichigo indicated the oldest girl, "is Szayel's, and the rest are from Grimmjow."

"So many cubs so soon," one of the girls standing behind Harribel practically swooned, eyeing him up with a large amount of interest.

Grimmjow growled dangerously and moved closer to him. The female backed down quickly, averting her eyes. Ichigo ignored the dominance display, keeping his attention on Harribel. H'tsu remained as awake as he could, silently watching from behind his eyes. As much as Ichigo despised his hollow for everything he'd done to Szayel, when it came to hollow related matters H'tsu tended to read things Ichigo still missed. Of course, there were things H'tsu missed as well since Arrancar were, as Ichigo frequently pointed out, different.

"Have you informed your pack about the rules I have regarding living with us?" he questioned Harribel.

"I have, and they have agreed to your terms," Harribel assured him.

"Good,"

Ichigo let H'tsu come forward a bit more now, even though his hollow half was exhausted from both the pregnancy and the rescue. H'tsu was just the more experienced one when it came to hollow pack dynamics and he did not want to mess this part up.

He greeted Harribel first, and the two of them went about a dance of dominance. Had they both been Adjucus, or possibly even Vasto Lorde, there would have been a lot more violence involved, not to mention teeth baring, snarling, and hackles rising as they showed off. However, being more evolved, the display didn't take long and really just ended up being her feeling his strength up with her reiatsu. There was also a previous agreement for her to submit to him so most of the posturing was simply an act of traditional display.

Harribel knew he was with cub, and as such that his strength was not up to full par, but he still saw the surprise in her eyes when she got the measure of him, and her backing down was **not** just because she was deciding to deafer to him. He truly was far stronger than her. If anything, the respect in her eyes doubled as she bowed her head and took a step back, indicating he was the stronger and she was submitting.

With the, now former, pack Alpha accepted and deferring to him, it was time for Ichigo to greet the cubs next, although it took a moment for them to realize that they had reached this part of the greeting. Ichigo couldn't help but to smile as he watched them play, in no rush to stop their fun. It was Cachorro who noticed the adults were ready for them, and called a halt to the play with Hijastro and Nel's help so they could get over the greetings.

Nel was quick to run up and hug him, accepting him gleefully. The little girl, Yukina if he recalled the name right, greeted him shyly and submissively, at least at first. He had always been good with children and it didn't take long for her to open up to him completely, no doubt helped along by Nel's complete openness and trust with him.

The cubs greeted, he turned to the other adults of Harribel's pack. They approached him one by one as was only proper, starting with the more powerful male. There was no sexism involved with him being ranked higher than the women, simply the fact he was stronger. After meeting the Arrancar who had once fought Chad, Ichigo turned his attention to the three women even while his Mate greeted the new male. All three women were of, more or less, equal strength, but there was not posturing over which of the three approached him first.

The dark skinned female, being the only one with a cub, approached first. The status of having a cub seeming to rise her up higher than the two other females. There was a bit of hesitation on the last two girls parts, not out of fear, but rather out of a hidden power display on which one of them ranked higher. It didn't last long as one of the two seemed to be, not lesser per say, but more willing to concede to avoid a fight. Following them were nel's 'brothers.' Ichigo was thankful they acted mature for this meeting. That was one relief at least.

Once his new pack mates had been greeted, Ichigo turned his attention back to the pile of rambunctious cubs, who had completely ignored the adults as soon as the Alpha pair had been acknowledged and were playing happily with signs of dominance already being shown.

"Well, that was a very interesting thing to observe," Kisuke spoke up from the sidelines, drawing everyone's attention to the outsider. "Are you ready for the grand tour?" Kisuke asked.

"I can't wait to see what you guys have done with the place," Ichigo smirked in anticipation. "However, there are some things that need to be addressed before we go further, the first being the very real threat to the pack."

"Which threat?" Gantenainne demanded sharply.

"Kurotsuchi. He managed to escape before we could capture him," Grimmjow snarled, fury in his voice.

"How secure is this place?" Ichigo demanded.

"As secure as I can make it," Kisuke assured him. "We removed the last few surveillance devices we had deliberately left up. I have received word from Yoruichi, just before you arrived in fact, that Renji and Rukia would like to come and 'visit' for a while as well. I think some of your Shinigami friends would like to add to the cubs security," Kisuke chuckled.

"No argument from me, but it's more likely Rukia just wants an excuse to come see the cubs," Ichigo smiled happily, pleased his Shinigami friends were once more trying to actively be a part of his life again. The extra firepower and eyes would be welcomed as well.

"Ichi-nii, not to push this along, but we really should at least see the quarters," Karin spoke up.

Ichigo turned his attention to his sister, noting that Yylfordt was hovering over her rather closely. It was a bit of a relief since they didn't know how Harribel's fraccion were going to react to the two human girls presence. Tesra and Yuzu were hovering pretty close together as well.

Karin, not so subtly, pointed to a fairly exhausted Szayel. He had only just been rescued from Kurotuschi's clutches, less than forty-eight hours ago in fact, and was looking pretty beat up. Ichigo felt guilty about forgetting about the Natural Beta. It had been a long walk through the Garganta and he'd had to meet his new pack mates to boot.

"Of course. Will he be nesting with the Alpha Pair again?" Kisuke asked innocently, drawing the definite attention of the new members of the pack.

"Of course, you think we would let the Nurse Maid out of sight?" Grimmjow questioned with a smirk.

"I really wish you wouldn't call me that," Szayel sighed, but he was too exhausted to make it even sound exasperated.

"It's what you are," Grimmjow snorted.

"Behave," Ichigo ordered sternly.

Grimmjow gave off another snort, but backed down, knowing when he was pushing the pack Alpha too far, not to mention there was more of that 'posturing.' If it seemed like the Ichigo couldn't even keep his own Beta in control than why should the newcomers respect him? For the next little while the Alpha Pair would be displaying a very powerful and united front with no one daring to even twitch wrong at Ichigo's direction, not until the new members were settled in at least.

"Why don't you show us the playroom for the cubs first, and then the private quarters. That way we can settle them down to play and you can give us the rest of the tour without trying to keep that many hyper cubs herded along," Ichigo suggested.

"Very well. If you would all follow me please!" Kisuke called out in excitement.

Trying to get the cubs to stop their game and move along was very much like, seriously no pun intended, herding cats! It was a relief to get them to the new playroom, one that far outrivaled the one at the old den. Once the cubs caught sight of their new jungle gym they were lost. Leaving most of the adults behind to watch the cubs, Kisuke led Ichigo, Szayel and Harribel down the corridors to the private quarters he'd finished setting up.

Now that most of the pack was out of sight, Szayel relented and leaned against Ichigo for support, exhaustion weighing him down heavily. As much as Ichigo didn't want to let any of the cubs out of his sight after what had happened, he felt better knowing they were under the vigilant watchful eyes of his mate and so many powerful Arrancar.

"It is.. uncommon to let someone not mated to den with a mated pair," Harribel noted as they walked down the corridors.

"I am a Naturally Born Beta, and so far the only one capable of feeding Ichigo and Grimmjow's cubs," Szayel answered honestly.

"I had often wondered," Harribel nodded.

"If Szayel hadn't been there, Cachorro might not have made it," Ichigo reluctantly admitted. "We have had no luck creating a formula the cubs will accept. I am due to lay soon, and Szayel is a week behind me."

"I see. You are a very intriguing person, Kurosaki Ichigo. I never thought anyone would be capable of taming Grimmjow." Ichigo detected amusement in her voice and offered her a smile of his own.

"I am not so sure I would call him 'tame.' As much as I love our rough and tumble sex life, I would prefer that all of my extremities remained intact."

"Fair enough," she conceded.

Ichigo could tell Harribel was different from the other Arrancar he'd met. She was calm, almost like the sea or ocean at rest. There was no need for posturing with her and he sensed none of the violence that hovered over the others, even shy Tesra. However, he could tell that if anyone dared to threaten her pack they would be dealt with swiftly. In a way, she reminded him very much of Unohana and he hoped the two could have a real chance to meet. He suspected they would get along rather well.

"Well, here we are, the Alpha Pair Suite," Kisuke announced joyfully as he opened a heavily fortified door to reveal a rather lavish den, complete with two nests not too far apart from each other separated by a screen.

Of course Kisuke had expected that Szayel would be bedding down with them. Ichigo was honestly not even surprised. He was, however, impressed by the room. There were windows, but they had glass in them, unlike every other window he had ever seen in Las Noches, or at least something that resembled glass. No doubt they were made of something insanely strong.

"There is much I would love to show off to you, like the security system and main lab, but I think it has been an eventful day as it is, and you both need to rest," Kisuke noted.

Szayel had stumbled away from Ichigo and was already curling up in the nest that was on the wall side. It didn't take long for the exhausted scientist to pass right out.

"I can't wait to show him the lab," Kisuke smirked widely.

"And the medical ward? It has all the equipment I asked for?" Ichigo questioned.

"Yes, and several of my own pieces as well, complete with manuals and several text from Unohana-taichou that she thought you might find intriguing."

"School never seems to end," Ichigo sighed.

"One should never give up the pursuit for knowledge," Kisuke declared.

"Yeah, no kidding. I am honestly not that tired," Ichigo admitted.

"No, but you should still rest," Harribel spoke up. "You are with cub, and as impressive as your strength is, it is still draining. Your reiatsu is in flux, and that is not good for a cub."

"I guess I can't argue when it's two on one," Ichigo chuckled dryly as he made himself comfortable in the rather large nest Kisuke had set up for them. "You mentioned earlier that there were several more Arrancar hovering at the edges of Las Noches," Ichigo noted.

"Yes, there have been several probes over the years as we set things up. No doubt they are curious about what's been going on here, to see if a new power has risen in Las Noches," Kisuke answered, but he looked towards Harribel for guidance in his assessment.

She gave a nod of her head in agreement.

"We should warn them about Kurotsuchi," Ichigo declared.

"You are concerned with others not of your pack?" Harribel questioned.

"Of course! No one should have to suffer at that bastards hands!" Ichigo snarled. "When we rescued everyone the first time I told them they were free to join my pack so long as they live by the rules.

"This may sound rather condescending, but I almost view many of the Arrancar as lost children. God, don't tell Grimmjow I said that. But even when we first mated, when we first stared living together, I could tell he was confused by all the emotions he suddenly had again. The very idea of love was foreign to him. Even the idea of family was strange to him.

"I noticed it over the years with Tesra and Yylfordt as well, although Tesra seemed to adapt more easily. Oddly enough, Szayel was the only one that seemed to have the most problems. I thought he would have had the easiest, given he retains his human memories, but perhaps that is what made it harder for him. I suppose what H'tsu did to him didn't help."

"Szayel was always a little mentally unstable. There is a reason he was once the aspect of Madness," Harribel noted. "He seems considerably more stable now, almost human. Who is H'tsu and what did he do to Szayel?" Harribel questioned. "if you do not mind sharing such personal things with me," she added.

"While you answer that, I am going to go show the others their rooms. You should rest Ichigo," Kisuke interrupted the conversation.

"I'll try," Ichigo promised.

"See that you do. Harribel," Kisuke gave her a nod.

Harribel gave Kisuke a nod as well and they both watched as the former Shinigami departed.

"H'tsu is my inner hollow," Ichigo resumed. "Technically speaking, Hijastro is his daughter. Szayel split my soul into it's three parts; Human, Shinigami and Hollow. H'tsu was not pleased and attacked Szayel while I ran to find Grimmjow since he was due to lay at any minute. I honestly thought that H'tsu had killed him, until I found out otherwise."

Ichigo paused, trying to reign his emotions back in and wondering if he should even be talking about this to Harribel. The rest of the pack, and most of the high ranking officers of Soul Society already knew what had happened, but it still wasn't his place to speak of such horrors. And yet, as Ichigo studied Harribel, he felt he could trust her with such knowledge, that she wouldn't think less of Szayel for what he'd gone through. In fact, she would probably find an even deeper respect for Szayel.

It still hurt his soul to think about what part of himself had done to Szayel. Harribel listened to the tale silently, but slight movements of her body gave away her emotions as he related what had happened. He was pleased, and not too surprised, to note that she found H'tsu's actions against Szayel just as disgusting as he did. He had a strong feeling that Harribel was going to be a wonderful addition to his pack, he could already see it. She was powerful and perhaps the most 'human' Arrancar he'd seen, other than Nel.

"_A trait of female Arrancar perhaps,__"_Ichigo mused.

He hadn't meet too many of them, and the only two he'd really spoken to at any length was Harribel and Nel.

"I have told you much about us. I would like to hear about you guys. How and when did you find Nel? I would definitely like to hear about Yukina and how all of that worked out. So far only Szayel's been able to feed our cubs, not synthetics have worked."

"Nel found me, actually," Harribel answered. "She… has a way of attaching herself to people."

"I know," Ichigo chuckled, remembering all too well his meeting of Nel.

"As for Yukina, her birth was…. different from what we were expecting. An egg was still laid, but it did not emerge from a hole in the stomach, instead it came from her sex. The egg hatched on time and she produced milk from her breast to feed her. It would seem our evolution into Arrancar has had some effects on our reproductive nature. At least, for those who are now entirely female. As you have demonstrated to me already, you understand that, physically, as Adjucus we were essentially sexless."

"Yeah, that took a little bit to wrap my brain around. I am just glad that everything worked out."

Their conversation was halted as they heard Szayel stir in his nest. Ichigo moved over to check on his pack mate. Hazy golden eyes starred fearfully up at him for a moment before Szayel took a deep breath and the confusion and fear cleared away.

"Nightmare?" Ichigo questioned.

A nod was the only answer he got. He was not surprised. Szayel had suffered them for a long time after H'tsu had broken him. In all honesty, Ichigo had been expecting his companion to have them again after being forced through a week at the hands of Kurotsuchi.

"I'll get some water," Ichigo promised.

"I will get it," Harribel spoke up, rising from her seat.

"Harribel. I didn't realize you were here," Szayel seemed suddenly embarrassed by his reaction.

"It is fine, Szayel. It took some time for my girls to recover from what that…. creature did to them." Harribel's voice was very frosty.

Szayel took the cup of offered water from Harribel's hand and drained it in one go.

"You still plan on offering the other Arrancar amity?" Harribel questioned.

"Yes," Ichigo answered without a moment of hesitation. "Provided they agree to the rules I set."

"Well. As Urahara-san noted earlier, you should rest. I will convey your message to those hovering at the boarder, and warn them of Kurotsuchi," Harribel promised.

"That would be appreciated."

Harribel left, leaving the two pregnant men behind. It had been a long 48 hours, and Ichigo was ready to get some rest himself. He did have one duty to attend to first though before he could rest.

"Are you feeling alright Szayel?" Ichigo questioned.

There was silence from the other nest for a moment before Szayel answered, his voice submissive and begging.

"If you don't mind, I really do not want to be alone right now," he confessed.

Exactly the answer Ichigo had been expecting. If he'd gone through everything Szayel had, he wouldn't want to be alone either. Instead of getting Szayel to move, he moved himself over to the other nest, bringing another glass of water with him. Szayel drank that one much slower while Ichigo made himself comfortable, conveniently putting himself between the door and skittish Arrancar.

Szayel curled up himself a moment later, damn near glued to the corner of the wall. Ichigo remained awake until he could hear the deep, even breathing indicating Szayel had fallen back asleep before letting himself drift off as well. He was more tired than he had realized.

* * *

><p>Well, I am still not happy with this Chapter but I am not going to make you all wait for it any longer while I pick and prod at it. Hopefully the next Chapter will be better.<p>

Anyone who has been following me for a while know I have this thing about taking the weirdest pairings and making them work. I almost see it as a challenge. In fact, I think Grimm/Ichi and Ulquiorra/Orihime are about the only commonly seen pairing I have every really worked with. I have put Ichigo with Rukia, but it's always in the background and never in focus.

Let's see. For unusual **consensual** relationships I've done:

Unohana/Starrk, Rangiku/Ggio, Grimmjow/Nel (which is semi uncommon.) Renji/Yachiru, Szayel/Hinamori. All in the Crossbreeding Universe.

Karin/Grimmjow, Tatsuki/Tesra, Renji/Nel, Toshiro/Harribel in the Prize of Victory universe. Rangiku/Nnoitra is heavily on the fence in that one.

What are some of the most bizarre pairing you have read?


	52. Large and Small Spaces

Large and Small Spaces

Grimmjow had to admit, Kisuke, for all his faults, sure knew how to build 'em. The cubs were completely lost the moment they saw their much larger new and improved jungle gym. It was easily twice the size as the old one and more than big enough to let a large number of adults join in on the fun. In fact, looking at it now, it could easily be used as a training tool.

"_Perfect. Saves us the time of building the training device for the cubs. A few tweaks and we can do their naming ceremony," _he thought pleased.

Nel and Yukina had fallen into the pack of cubs rather quickly and easily. There were several scuffles at first as a new tier of dominance was worked out, but none of the scuffles required adult intervention and barely an hour had passed before they all seemed to work out who stood where. Exactly as he had predicted, and not just because of parental pride and difference, Cachorro had maintained his dominance over the cubs. His son was going to be a strong leader one day, a true Alpha. With the size of Las Noches his son might not even have to go far when he was ready to strike out on his own and form his own pack. It wouldn't be the first time a few packs shared a hunting ground in alliance.

Kurosaki, curse the bastard, was right. They were definitely no longer just hollows. And while a fair amount of their customs and rituals remained, a fair amount had changed to reflect the Shinigami part of their souls. Actually, when he really thought about, if anything, _more_ had been added thanks to their new heritage as opposed to abandoned or changed.

The other adults were meeting and talking, exchanging information on how raising their own cubs had gone as well as fretting over what it meant now that Kurotsuchi was on the lose. The only ones missing from that large gathering were Karin and Yylfordt. He could detect them not too far away. More than close enough for Yylfordt to respond to any alarm and even positioned in such a way they were technically guarding a potential attack vector. Good. He wouldn't need to reprimand his subordinate for failing in his diligence. Yylfordt's quiet acceptations back into the Alpha Pair's good graces was the only apology he was going to get for them jumping on him for failing his duty when it had been his turn to guard the den. Since the attack had happened inside, they were technically all really at fault and he really didn't like to dwell on that.

'_Should be interesting to see how he adjust to no longer being so high up,__'_Grimmjow mused.

With the addition of Harribel's pack into their own, Yylfordt had dropped down the ladder a bit, now standing behind Harribel and Gants, Grimmjow refused to use the entire long ass, ridicules name of Gantenbainne, even in his mind. Seriously, who the hell named their kid something so bloody ridicules? The idiot would be dead before you could even finish his bloody name, let alone anything resembling 'watch out' or 'duck.'

'_Probably how he died in the first place,' _he thought amused.

Anyhow, back to Yylfordt. His former fraccion had always been rather high up, standing proudly in the third slot for so long, even technically in this pack, that being pushed back into the middle of the pack might take a bit of adjusting. Although, judging by the way he had been hovering over Karin lately, Grimmjow doubted Yylfordt was even thinking about things like pack positions and was more likely thinking about things like courtship.

While physically much weaker than Yylfordt, even more so than even Tesra was, Karin was not someone Yylfordt could just pull into a battle and mount when he subdued her. Oh no, doing so would get him castrated, if he was lucky and Ichigo was in a good mood. Instead, he had to approach Karin as if she was stronger than him, which with the overwhelming power of Ichigo as her technical weapon, she was. It was rare that lower powered hollows courted someone higher in power, it was a dangerous thing to do after all since if the sought for Alpha wasn't amused the Beta would end up as lunch, but it did happen. It usually occurred if the previous Beta had mated with his or her target before and desired more offspring when the more powerful Alpha was not interesting in mating at the time. There were also the odd case where a weak hollow would court a stronger one in the hopes that bearing their offspring would give them protection for the period of time it would take to have and raise the cub and, if the Beta was lucky, be accepted into the Alpha's graces afterwards.

Neither was the case here of course. But, once again, the side that was their Shinigami soul was poking through. Of course, with the addition of Harribel's pack and three viable hollow females to pick and choose from, Yylfordt might switch his focus to one of them instead, but somehow Grimmjow doubted it. Those three could be rather irritating at times, granted they may have changed in the last five years or so. There was also the fact that it was Karin's personality that had originally attracted Yylfordt to her, not her power, even if she was slowly coming into it like her brother had at her age.

He doubted she would be whipping around a Bankai anytime soon though, let alone a Zanpakuto of her own. There was no need for her to go through the crash course, highly dangerous training Ichigo had in order to survive. No Karin had the time to come into her powers naturally, and that was what they were going to let her do.

Grimmjow turned his attention away from that couple for now, content with how things were progressing and what effect it might have on his pack, and towards the larger gathering of adults. Yuzu was a rather shy person, but she was standing beside Tesra and the two former Omega's, whose rolls had been replaced with Nel's 'brothers,' were talking with the rest in a comfortable manner. Yuzu actually seemed rather interested in the conversation and, while she had been ill at ease at first, was now talking to the rest comfortably. There was no sign of dominance stress anywhere, and that was good. That meant there was a good chance this merger would work and the two new Omega's had taken to their role easily, no doubt because they had held that place in Harribel's pack.

Tesra, for his part, seemed happy to have moved forward in the pack a little and Yuzu hardly seemed to notice she's gained new status. While technically, in the animal kingdom at least, the two Omega's were female and male, once again their hollow heritage was poking through here. After all, there was no physical male/female traits until one became a Vasto Lorde, or were turned into an Arrancar. So for hollow's it was very common to see two 'male' Omegas in larger packs.

"_If there is going to be stress anywhere, it__'__s probably going to be between Harribel and I,__"_he mused.

Harribel, as reluctant as he was to admit it, was stronger than him. If not for his place as Ichigo's mate, he would be below her, which actually wouldn't be anything new to him. He had been a lot lower from her when Aizen had still ruled over them. In all honestly, being below Harribel hadn't bother him too much since she had never lorded her power over him, let alone anyone else; unlike certain green eyed bastards he could think of. The real question was going to be if Harribel could stand being beneath him. Somehow, he didn't think there would be much of an issue. Harribel was, by far, the most 'human' of them all. As long as her girls were safe and they were all treated well, she would be content. She had never been one to involve herself in power plays. So as long as he respected her and didn't try to lord his position over her, she would be content.

Speaking of Harribel, she was just returning with Kisuke in tow. He wasn't surprised Ichigo hadn't returned. If all went well his mate should start nesting soon. Grimmjow knew his mate so well now that he would have honestly been surprised if Ichigo had left Szayel alone after everything that had just happened. No, for the next week or so Ichigo would not be leaving Szayel, or the two girls, unattended. In all honesty, it was going to be a while before he let his cubs out of sight himself.

"Ichigo wishes to extend his invitation, and warnings, to those hovering on the boarder," Harribel announced as everyone turned to acknowledge the returning duo.

"Give them the warning, and let them know of his offer, but warn them they have to think about it for the next two weeks before they can attempt to join us," Grimmjow stated firmly.

This was a little bit of hollow politics that Ichigo was ill equipped to deal with. They had already just shuffled the pack once with the absorption of Harribel's pack. It would be best to let the displays of dominance and position jockeying settle down a bit first before introducing more outsiders. In two weeks both Szayel and Ichigo would have laid their eggs, and the hollow half of Ichigo's power would be well on the way of recovery, if not fully recovered since it would be getting boosts from his other parts. Szayel would be recovering as well. The stronger and more unified of a front Ichigo showed them, the more they would be willing to follow him without problems.

Harribel nodded her head in agreement with his statement, no doubt having planned on doing something similar anyhow. She did, however, bring up one thing he hadn't considered.

"What if they have cubs?" she questioned.

It was unlikely, but possible. Without Aizen around lording over them, not to mention the lack of a looming war, it was entirely possible that some of them might have started breeding. Not like there was much more to do in Hueco Mundo other than fight and fuck, especially since they were now on the top of the food chain and no longer needed to hunt to gain more strength, merely hunt for dinner.

"If they have cubs, tell them they can join in three days," he offered.

Three days would be ample time to get most of the dominance issues out, and those who successfully had and raised cubs tended to be less confrontational and more likely to fit into a pack. The thought of protection for their offspring would make them much more mellow and patient.

"Or, if they have any news on that fuck face Kurotsuchi, they can approach whenever," he added with a growl.

Harribel nodded and exited, no doubt to speak to the Arrancar he could detect hovering on the far fringes of his senses. They were all at the appropriate 'I am here, curious and might want to meet but desire to pose no threat' range. They, in turn, would pass the message along to others they held alliances or tolerances with.

Grimmjow checked on the cubs again, noticing the youngest were finally starting to tire out and even the older cubs had worked off most of their energy. It should be relatively easy to round the brats up now, relatively being the key word. It was amazing how quickly cubs could get a surge of energy when they decided they really didn't want a nap.

"Now would be a good time to show the rest of us the ready quarters and to get the cubs down for a nap," he declared loud enough for everyone, even Yylfordt and Karin, to hear.

"Of course," Kisuke smiled at him and gave a little bow. "If you would like to gather your off spring, I can show you to the quarters that are ready and secured."

The cubs were a lot more cooperative this time, as they had worked off a lot of energy. In fact, almost all of them were being carried with the exception of Nel, even though she looked ready for a nap herself. Yuzu was holding his daughter while Karin packed Hijastro. Cachorro was sitting on his shoulder, and damn if his oldest wasn't getting to damn big and heavy to be doing that anymore, while he held the other two males nestled in an arm each.

Nel was something he was still trying to wrap his brain around. She wasn't actually a cub, and after her battle with Nnoitra she had even regained most of her memories. Briefly, he wondered if Orihime could heal the damage done to her. He had seen the human woman do some pretty amazing shit with her powers, including return his arm after Tousen had slice it off and incinerated it. Not a fond memory. Now that they had found Nel, there was the opportunity to see if something could be done. She would be much more useful to them as an adult than a cub. He made a mental note to bring it up with Ichigo.

Kisuke showed them the corridor of rooms, and even the beautiful nursery for the cubs. For now though, so soon after Kurotuschi's attack and with the bastard still running at large, everyone opted for the cubs to remain with their respective parents. Being the present Alpha, he made sure the rest of the pack was settled in before entering the room Kisuke had indicated was theirs.

Since Kisuke hadn't been expecting such a large pack, only six rooms were ready. Tesra took one with his cub. Nel shared one with her brothers. Gants, he still refused to use that full ridicules name, took one with his little family. Harribel's remaining former fraccion claimed one. That left one more spare one and the master den. Karin had insisted the last den be left for Harribel, since she was only going to be a temporary guest here anyhow. In all honesty, Grimmjow was fairly positive that she was just using that as an excuse to stay close to Yylfordt because the others had tried to make it clear that Harribel wouldn't mind sharing with the girls for the few days Karin planned on remaining.

"_Granted, Ichigo's expecting those Shinigami friends of his and they will need a place to sleep,"_ he mused.

With the others settled down, Cachorro and Hijastro were walking now while he held the three, yawning triplets, not an easy feat and one that had taken some time to work out. Yuzu had remained with Kisuke and was heading back to the living world while Karin had opted to den down with Yylfordt using the excuse that only so many rooms had been ready.

"_Might want to neglect to tell Ichigo that part,"_ he noted.

He trusted Yylfordt not to do something that would piss Ichigo off and Karin needed all the support she could get right now. It would probably be for the best if she did stay close to Yylfordt for now, at least until she could get over the incident that was bothering her. She was comfortable with him and he saw no reason to interfere as the relationship seemed to be helping her get over her distress, and that was all that mattered.

The Master Den was far larger, and much nicer, than the old one he'd been using for years. Hell, it might have once been Aizen's personal quarters and it was only fitting that Ichigo, being the one who defeated him, would claim them. He wasn't the least bit surprised to find Szayel and Ichigo sleeping, the first curled up defensively in a corner and the second in a guarding position on the edge of the small nest clearly intended for the nursemaid. Ichigo stirred the moment the door opened, but Szayel, in his exhausted state, remained asleep.

Grimmjow set the triplets down and all five cubs pranced towards their father. Ichigo made sure to give each one a hug or pet as they passed him and proceeded to curl up with the Natural Beta in the corner he was hiding in. Szayel stirred a bit as he suddenly found himself swarmed by sleepy cubs, but he was quickly asleep again after changing his position so that he had physical contact with them all, especially Hijastro. It was almost impossible to see him under the pile of cubs curled up with him now.

Ichigo moved over to their own nest as Grimmjow tossed his clothing aside and joined him. Ichigo removed his own clothing and started to shift the blankets and pillows about, a frown on his face as he tried to make their nest comfortable and to his liking. Grimmjow couldn't help but to smirk, recalling doing the very same thing when he had been so close to laying. In fact, if he was lucky, Ichigo would become just as lethargic as he had and he would be able to return some digs and torments; such as the infamous 'dear lord it's bath time.'

It took a good ten minutes before Ichigo was finally happy with the way their nest was arranged and Grimmjow curled up against him. Their combined body heat quickly warmed up the cold blankets.

"So, what do you think so far?" Ichigo questioned.

"I think your freak of a Shinigami friend did an okay job with this place. In fact, the new jungle gym is easily large enough to give Cachorro, Hijastro and Ternero their right of passages. A few tweaks from Szayel when he wakes up and we can probably do it in the next few days or so. It would be something to look forward to and take our minds off of the fucking bastard still running about," Grimmjow snarled in anger.

The very thought of Kurotsuchi had his blood boiling in such a way that it almost reminded him of the overwhelming obsession he'd once had to beat his mate into the ground when Aizen had still been running the show. Only, in this case, Grimmjow wasn't looking for a good fight so much as he was hoping for a very, very bloody massacre. Preferably a long one that lasted several hours.

"Harribel is out spreading our invitation of sanctuary. I told her that, unless if they had cubs, that they were to really think about it for two weeks before approaching us for a position. That will give time for everyone here to settle into their pack rolls before adding more tempers, and for the eggs to be laid."

Ichigo nodded his head in agreement with the decision and that made him just a little bit proud that his Alpha approved. Ichigo tended to do some fairly erotic things to him when the pack Alpha was appeased, and he was definitely not opposed to getting any of that kind of attention. With everything that had been going on they hadn't had time to really get it on.

"You know," Ichigo suddenly purred into his ear, sending a shiver up his spine and a heat wave down the other way towards his groin, "it has occurred to me that you have been a very supportive, well behaved Arrancar."

"Oh?" he questioned, hating how his voice sounded off already.

"Yes," Ichigo's mouth suddenly latched onto his throat and he felt himself shiver with anticipation. "And good Arrancar get rewards."

"What kind of rewards?" he questioned, even though he already knew the answer and it was making his formally flaccid length quickly stiffen, a stiffening that was only encouraged further by Ichigo's fingers suddenly carding their way through the nest of blue curls that surrounded it.

"The good kind," Ichigo purred.

"The cubs and nursemaid?" he questioned reluctantly, knowing that Ichigo preferred to keep their mating private and not really wanting to remind him they were not alone. However, failure to remind him could result in a rather unpleasant situation afterwards, or worse, if they were interrupted.

"Well asleep, and not likely to wake up anytime soon, unless," those fingers ceased brushing through his curls and wrapped deliciously around his fully awakened arousal, "you can't keep your voice down and wake them."

He bit back a moan as those deft and calloused fingers started to pump him, the thumb working it's way torturously over the head and spreading about the small amount of precum that was already leaking out. Ichigo's tongue, lips and teeth started a slow assault of his neck and before he even knew it he was laying on his back, thrusting his hips lightly into the hand wrapped around him with his head thrown back in supreme submission while Ichigo attacked his throat. Ichigo's other hand tangled in his hair and the fingers attached to said hand assaulted his scalp. If he could purr, he would be doing so now, and very loudly.

Ichigo continued the assault for some time before shifting and straddling him. He hardly noticed, but he did notice when the fingers that had once been massaging his scalp were suddenly wet with lube and probing his entrance. He wanted to snarl a bit, remind Ichigo that, until the Hybrid laid that egg, he was technically the Alpha, but any thought of such things quickly left his brain as that finger wormed it's way in and found the little bundle inside of him that caused his hips to jerk.

Oh yeah, that was why he didn't mind it when Ichigo was on top. All he had to do way lay back and float in pleasure without needing to do any work at all. While most Alphas preferred attentive Betas and cared only for their own pleasure, Ichigo was the only Alpha he'd ever known that paid so much attention to his Beta that it was damn well worth submitting. Why fight such blinding pleasure? With Ichigo as an Alpha he didn't have to work at all and the only thing that he had to give up was the right of penetration. And, something he still reluctantly admitted, Ichigo was so talented that it was honestly far more pleasurable to be the one penetrated rather than being the one on top. He now had tastes of both sides of the coin, and while his Alpha side wanted to be on top, every other last bit of his body and soul thoroughly enjoyed being on the bottom and basically told that other small voice to fuck off.

He also, as much as he hated to admit it, enjoyed being pregnant, of feeling the growing ball of reiatsu form inside of him and know that here it was, his cub. After so many failures in the past, he was now surrounded by cubs with a future prospect of many, many more coming his way.

A sharp nip on his neck turned his thought back towards the pleasure his body was experience as Ichigo worked it, knowing exactly where every last one of his buttons were. Another finger had slid easily inside of him, preparing him for the much larger part of Ichigo's anatomy that would be inside of him soon. Those fingers, now thrusting and scissoring inside of him at a growing rate of speed, would pause on occasion to rub and torment his prostate. Ichigo's other hand continued to pump his shaft, thumb assaulting the head. Sweat was quickly covering his body and he let out a little whimper of pleasure. The sound seeming to echo loudly in the large room simply because he was, vaguely at this point, aware of the pile of cubs barely five feet away on the other side of the thin screen.

Ichigo finally paused as the whimper was released. After a moment, Ichigo pulled away from him, and he found another little whimper escaped his throat as cold air brushed over his heated body and his insides felt suddenly empty. Even in a lust induced haze, Ichigo did not forget to wrestle up a condom. After all, it would really suck to have him get knocked up right now. It didn't take very long for Ichigo's practiced hands to roll the rubber on before grabbing his legs and resting them on the Alpha's shoulders.

Ichigo smirked at him, golden eyes looking down at him in a clear display of lust, power and dominance that sent a shiver through Grimmjow's entire body and reminded him, yet again, why he enjoyed submitting himself to the hybrid.

Ichigo entered him in one, quick thrust, as usual never failing to hit the nail right on the head and causing his back to arch in mind blowing pleasure. Ichigo didn't give him time to get use to the intrusion either and started a fast and brutal pace that screamed primal lust. He loved every second of it as his body was assault with pleasure. It was so very hard not to scream out in pure bliss and he clamped his mouth onto Ichigo's arm, the one resting by his head to help support the body pounding into him. Blood flowed into his mouth as his teeth broke the skin, but Ichigo hardly seemed to mind, nor did he mind as Grimmjow's nails dub deep into his shoulders in a vain effort to further ground himself from the blinding pleasure Ichigo was lavishing upon his body.

He had never mastered the ability to hit Ichigo's prostate dead on every single thrust, granted he had considerably less practice as he had only been able to top Ichigo a handful of times since the start of their relationship. Ichigo, though, had always seemed to be able to nail him dead on, every time, since the start. A part of him resented that, the rest just cheered in glee as pleasure raced over his body.

Ichigo leaned back a bit and brought the hand not attached to the arm Grimmjow's fangs were imbed in, in between them to wrap around his length. He hadn't noticed Ichigo dip that hand into the jar of lube, but he definitely had, and worse, the jar of lube Yoruichi had made a habit of getting them every Christmas since the first. His groin was suddenly alit with pleasurably fire and his seed sprayed across both of their chests after barely five strokes of Ichigo's hand. His body jerked with his release, fangs and claws digging even deeper into Ichigo's flesh.

Ichigo didn't stop thrusting into him, even as he was milked and the product now glistened wetly on their stomachs. In fact, Ichigo didn't even release his heavily deflated shaft and kept on stroking it. He was breathing really heavily now, so heavily the sounds of his harsh breathing through his nose, on account of his mouth still latched to Ichigo's arm, was probably louder than any moans he was making. With the determination that had seen Ichigo triumph over so many opponents, Grimmjow was worked up into another erection. Ichigo suddenly released his legs and flipped him around, completely ignoring the lacerations such a move created as his claws were wrenched from the place where they had imbedded themselves into Ichigo's shoulders. He was pulled up to his knees but he refused to let go of the latch he had on Ichigo's arm and that forced his chest against the bottom of the nest. Once in the new position, Ichigo continued his pace and his free hand wrapped once more around Grimmjow's arousal, slicked with even more of that accursed, delightful, devil cream.

He was breathing harshly now and he could see the sweat rolling beads down both of their bodies. The heat between his legs was becoming unbearable and he knew he was damn near ready to burst again. Fingers were suddenly combing through his hair before grabbing tightly and, with a painful yank, his teeth were torn from Ichigo's arm as Ichigo jerked his head up and sank his own teeth into Grimmjow's neck. He lost it right there and spilled his seed beneath him with Ichigo squeezing every drop from him. He let out a roar of pleasure, completely forgetting about the rest of their den mates.

Ichigo's teeth sank more harshly into his neck and he felt the body against his join him in convulsions. For a moment they remained like that, Ichigo mounted on top of him with teeth latched sharply onto his throat while he kneeled there with his back arched and his bloodied mouth wide open at the end of his roar. Then they both collapsed in exhaustion, and both licked the blood from their lips. Ichigo returned his mouth to Grimmjow's neck and began to lick and lap up the blood from the deep bite, soothing the wound.

After Ichigo had pulled out of him and disposed of the condom that made sure he didn't end up with a belly full of cub, Grimmjow was offered the mangled flesh of Ichigo's arm where his own teeth had latched on. The flesh was pretty mangled, Ichigo's own fault and he felt no remorse for it. He set about soothing the wound with his own tongue, delightfully enjoying the taste of Ichigo's blood as the flavour of it flooded his mouth and delighted his taste buds.

"You two are impossible and I demand a soundproof divider," Szayel's exhausted, yet amused, voice declared from out of sight.

"The cubs?" Ichigo questioned sleepily.

"Miraculously slept through that," Szayel answered. "Or are at least pretending to," he added.

"Good. Go back to sleep," Ichigo ordered.

Szayel didn't speak again, no doubt intending to do just that. As for them, they desperately needed a shower, just as soon as they caught their breaths. On second thought, maybe the shower could wait until after a nap. Napping sounded really good right now. If they napped first they would have the energy to do more than just shower. Yeah, that sounded like a really good idea, and never mind he doubted his legs would support him after those mind blowing orgasms.

* * *

><p>Hope you all enjoyed the sex. Been a little while since they had a chance to get it on. I loved reading some of the bizarre pairings you have all come across, some of them I've seen a fair amount of. I forgot to add HanataroLilinete to my Crossbreeding list, lol. Another set of odd pairing I had seen was Rukia/Ryuken and a threesome with Grimmjow/Ukitake/Shunsui. Byakuya/Ulquiorra was in that one as well. Those two I can really see getting along, but man they both have personalities that are a bitch to write.

Next Chapter: No clue, haven't written it yet.

This Weeks Question: What's more important in a fict; the scenes of rampant sex or a good story line?

See you all either in POV2 or when I get time to write and post the next Chapter to this.


	53. Coping

Coping

Despite it being so late, Karin found herself wide awake and all too aware of the bare and warm chest pressing against her back. Yylfordt was only wearing his hakama as she leaned against him with his arms around her, making her feel safe and wanted. She was still fully clothed in t-shirt, shorts and socks, but she knew shit would fly if Ichigo or her father were to walk in on her. That was not what was on her mind at all right now, nor was it how jealous her high school friends would be if they knew she was being held by, what they would consider, one hunk of a catch. No, the only thing on Karin's mind right now was the sharing of pain as they both recovered from events they had little to no control over.

"And this one?" she questioned, her index finger gently tracing over yet another scar that covered one of the arms holding her.

For the past hour Yylfordt had been confessing to her a large number of the things Kurotsuchi and his men had down to him while he'd been held as one of their specimens. Sometimes it took him a moment to get it out, other times he hissed in anger. Either way, it was helping them both heal.

He had been holding it back for several years, burying what had been done to him under a front of confidence and never really dealing with it. In her case, for every atrocity that had been committed against him, she found herself caring less and less that she had killed the two men that she had. One of them, she had learned afterwards, had been a lecherous bastard and had coerced sexual favours out of some of the subjects. Never outright rape, for everything was monitored, but under the so called experimental heading 'what would a hollow do to obtain this' he had been able to enjoy several sexual 'favours.' Yylfordt had even had several encounters with the man in question, but had confided in her that he'd never been desperate enough to agree to any of the mans wishes. She defiantly no longer regretted killing that bastard and almost wished she could confront him again to make his death less clean and quick and far longer and agonizing. The second guard he didn't recognize the description to, but Karin was now convinced that no on in that division had clean hands.

"This one," Yylfodt's hand covered hers and pulled it away from the scar that ran up his arm, suspiciously following a main vein, "I will tell you about another time."

"Alright," she agreed easily, knowing better than to try and force the issue.

He didn't need to share all of this with her, and the fact that he was spoke volumes about the trust he had in her not to share so many 'weakness' with others. Hollows simply did not admit short comings, to do so was to give a weapon to your enemy.

'_But they are no longer hollows,__'_she reminded herself.

"Your father," he paused for a moment, "confronted me about my right to court you," he confessed.

"Oh?" she asked suddenly intrigued.

"I told him your brother has given us all permission to mate as we see fit, so long as both parties agree to the terms."

She felt her cheeks flush and her heart rate dramatically increase. She felt a mixture of fear for the unknown and a large amount of excitement with a touch of anticipation. That he was even speaking of this meant he was interested and, considering what she knew of hollow mating, she felt highly flattered that he would even consider a mere, weak human like her to be a worthy contest.

"He did," she agreed with his last statement, noting her mouth seemed suddenly dry.

"It was pointed out, however, that you still have things you need to do, and how difficult it was for Ichigo to do those things after mating with Grimmjow."

He had a point there. She honestly had no plans on having kids anytime soon. There was still so much in her life she wanted to do and getting bogged down now was not on her agenda. Not that she didn't love kids, and deeply love the cubs, she simply wasn't ready to have any of her own. There were a large number of things she still needed to do with her life, like win the World Woman's Soccer tournament among other things. That would be hard to do with a cub to care for.

"They are right in that aspect," she sighed in agreement.

"I agreed to stave off courtship until you were considered an adult in human society," he assured her.

Her cheeks were defiantly flushed now. How many boys said they were willing to wait before having sex? None she knew off. In fact, her few girlfriends bitched and moaned about how several of them had broken up already because their exes kept pushing for sex. And now, here she was, with a hunk of a man telling her he was more than willing to wait until she older and ready for it. Insisting on it in fact.

"You know," Karin licked her lips nervously and turned about in his arms so they were facing each other, "humans actually court each other for some time before actually mating. There are a lot of other things we can do that do not involve the actual act," she pointed out.

"Oh?" he gave her a small smile. "Like what?"

"Holding hands, cuddling, going on dates, kissing," her blush deepened at the last one.

"Kissing?" he questioned, leaning his forehead against hers, mindful of the fragment of bone that adorned his hair.

"Yeah," she agreed, their breath mingling between them. "Kissing," she all but whispered.

Yes, here it was. The moment she had been waiting for, that her stupid father had interrupted. Slowly, their lips drew closer and she felt her eyes drift close even as she felt his arms tighten around her. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage in a mixture of fear and anticipation. She was positive her cheeks had to be burning.

A loud yowl caused them both to jump in surprise and her head met his mask in the result confusion. He had dropped her and his main hand was halfway towards his zanpakuto while she cursed with words her father would have a conniption fit over if he knew she knew them.

"Bloody hell," Yylfordt sighed.

"What the hell was that?" she complained, furious that her perfect moment had been broken, yet again, while rubbing her sore forehead.

"Grimmjow," he answered honestly, crawling over to check on her.

"Why they hell would….. oh, never mind," she chuckled. "Ichi-nii riding him again?" she questioned.

"That's what it sounded like," he agreed, shaking his head in exasperation. "It was one main reason Tesra and I moved here as soon as we could. The walls are good, but only so good, and those two tend to get very loud."

"Hmm, I know what you mean," she agreed. "Every Christmas I wonder why on earth we agree to spend the night," she sighed.

Her forehead hurt a little, but she didn't think it was going to bruise. Fortunately, his mask fragments were relatively smooth and didn't have any sharp edges or horns she needed to worry about getting gouged on.

"So, you really don't mind waiting five years or so before, you know, mating fully?" she questioned apprehensively.

"To creatures that live as long as we do, five years pass in the blink of an eye," he assured her.

"And what about afterwards, or even before. Humans tend to mate for life and you have other options now," she pointed out, even though she didn't want to remind him that there were now more woman for him to pursue, women who were stronger, of his own kind, and far better looking than she was.

"I have never had interest in any of them, their personalities can get grating on the nerves, and even if I choose one the other one would be on my case about why _she_ wasn't the one chosen," he scowled.

"Like a pair of squabbling sisters?" she suggested.

"Sounds about right, but I have never seen you and Yuzu fight."

"Yuzu and I don't have many things to fight over. After mom," she swallowed and forced herself to continue at the sudden pain, to touch on something that she had buried and hadn't let fully heal, "after mom we all sort of silently agreed not to fight, just in case the last memory we would have of each other was a bad one," she confessed.

She had never spoken to anyone about her mother, not even her family. However, after everything he had shared with her, all the pain and humiliation Kurotsuchi put him through during his imprisonment, her own pain almost seemed poor in comparison. Unlike his pain, her's was proceeded by a large slew of good memories. The bad memory of her mother's death would never fully go away, but at least she had good ones with which to recall her mother with, dimmed though they were with age and time. There were no good memories Yylfordt had of Kurotsuchi to offset the months of bad, with the possible exception of Ternero. He hadn't even been that close with Tesra, not like Ichigo was with Grimmjow, or even Szayel.

"Have you ever thought about reconciling with Szayel?" she questioned hesitantly, uncertain on how estranged the brothers actually were.

"Not really," he shrugged. "I don't remember anything from our mortal life, and the memories of our Arrancar life are less than stellar. Not terribly bad, but not all that exceptional either."

"So?" Karin questioned. "Now would be a good time to start making good ones. After all, if you do decide to stick around, you are going to be around him for a very long time, and he will be helping to look after any future offspring. Why spend that time in discord?" she pointed out.

She felt him tense before relaxing and letting out a little sigh.

"Maybe you are right," he agreed.

"There is one thing you should know about woman," she smirked at him.

"Oh?"

"We are always right," she said seriously.

"Really?" he questioned with a raised eye.

"Yes. Just remember, if you ever think we are wrong, well, let's just say no one can give the cold shoulder, and bed, like a woman can. Nor can anyone hold a grudge like a woman can," she smirked at him with her best _evil_ smile.

"Ouch," he chuckled. "I'll remember that,"

"Good," she glanced over at the clock and winced as she realized how late it had gotten. "I think it's time for bed," she sighed.

"Hmm," he agreed, also looking at the time.

Karin untangled herself from his grasp and moved over to the nest of pillows and blankets. While she had found it weird at first, she had to confess she had grown rather fond of this style of bedding. She made herself a cozy spot and settled down to sleep.

"You coming to bed or what?" she questioned while Yylfordt still sat there staring at her in the rather smallish nest.

"Yeah," he agreed, a smile crossing his own face as he settled into nest himself.

"Good," Karin purred as she moved a bit until her back hit his chest, sighing in contentment as his body heat quickly warmed up the blankets. "Better," she murmured happily.

She hadn't confessed to anyone, but when she slept alone she had nightmares. Visions of blood soaking the world around her. Visions of faceless children accusing her of murdering their father. Her mother staring at her in disappointment for forcing other children to go through the same pain she did. Yuzu's presence helped a little, but for some reason she found Yylfordt's was the only one that kept the nightmares completely away. Maybe because the men she had killed had been the ones to have once tormented him. Maybe because a part of his thrumming powerful reiatsu reminded her of his brother, and the things that had been done to Szayel. Perhaps it might even be because of how protected she felt surrounded by such power. Whatever the reason, she was more than willing to cuddle with him if it meant a good nights sleep.

'_Not like other girls my age aren__'__t already doing far more,__'_she thought in her own defence. _'__Old goat face would have a conniption fit if he knew I have been sharing a bed with a man,__"_ she couldn't help but to think amused. _'__Hypocrite. When Ichi-nii was my age all he wanted was to find out that Nii-chan had a girl in his bed and were making kissy face. Spring time of youth and all that other nonsense my ass. I am more than old enough, and mature enough, to know what I am doing and with who, never mind the what, it is I am doing it with.__'_

Karin snuggled more intently into the warmth behind her, letting out a little sigh. After a moment, she felt an arm hesitantly wrap around her. With a soft smile, she finally let herself drift off into a dreamless sleep.

(TIME)

When she woke in the morning it was to the feeling of being completely warm, comfortable, and well rested. The presence at her back was gone, but judging by the warmth still emanating from the spot behind her, he had just moved. In fact, she spotted him at the door speaking to someone. No doubt his moving had woken her up.

"What is it?" she asked with a yawn when he closed the door.

"It is my turn for patrol," he answered.

"Gotcha. Want company?" she questioned, half hoping he would say yes while half hoping he would say no so she could stay curled up in the warm nest and maybe get some more sleep.

"I would enjoy your company, however, I feel it would be better if you spent some time with your brother. He is getting worried and, in all honesty, I like my hide where it is," he offered her small smirk.

"Too true," she agreed with a chuckle.

With a languid stretch, she finally forced herself out of the warm nest. She was getting hungry too and finding the kitchen was starting to sound like a good idea. If she was lucky, Tesra would already be up and have breakfast on the go. If it was one thing the Arrancar had picked up from his time spent with her sister, it was a superb culinary skill, which was good. Ichigo could cook, but he wasn't anywhere as good as Yuzu was, let alone practiced enough to feed so many mouths.

'_Of course, half of his pack doesn__'__t exactly need to eat our kind of food,__"_ she mused.

They could of course, and greatly enjoyed it. But unless the food came from Soul Society, and thus was infused with the natural reishi from that realm, it had no more nutritional value to a hollow than celery did to a human, less even since humans at least got a bit of water out of it. Even the food from there was only so helpful.

'_Didn__'__t Kisuke say something about a garden or something. It__'__s not meat, but I suppose any little bit helps. I think they mentioned something about that simulated stuff Szayel made. Not as good as the real thing I am sure, but considering how many mouths they got to feed, that would be a lot of hunting, more so if any of those others decide to join Ichi-nii,__'_

While she had been musing, Yylfordt had redressed and had time to check his appearance to make sure he was worthy to be seen in public. She couldn't help but to wonder how bad he must have been if this was the toned down version of preening. If it was one thing he shared with Szayel, it was their vanity.

"Are you done preening?" she questioned.

"I am merely making sure I am presentable," he scoffed, but left the mirror anyhow and joined her at the door.

"Of course," she patted him gently on the shoulder.

With a deep breath, she followed him down to the main living room, which was right off the large playground just like the old den, only considerably bigger. Most of the pack was already there. In fact, the cubs were playing excitedly on their new toy while the adults were settled down for breakfast. Judging by the small pile of little dirty dishes, the cubs had already eaten. Karin was glad she had missed that. She could just imagine how difficult it had been to get the cubs to sit still and eat with such a treasure right there before them.

Greetings were exchanged and Yylfordt just grabbed a quick snack to go before heading out to take over the patrols. With the cubs out of the way, and everyone gathered, Karin turned her attention towards her brother, who was looking at her suspiciously.

"So Ichi-nii, is the entire pack going to have to get earplugs at night, or are we just going to have to get use to the sound of a cat yowling every night?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow while pouring herself a cup of coffee.

Ichigo flushed a bright red and Grimmjow chocked on his drink, spluttering hot coffee out his nose and spraying his hands before cursing violently and shaking his now soaked and burned fingers. The rest of the table either laughed outright or made little chuckling noises.

"I do not yowl," Grimmjow vehemently denied while glaring dangerously at her.

"Riiiiight," she rolled her eyes at them while helping herself to the food Tesra had prepared; it smelt positively divine. "Was it Grimmjow?" she question Szayel with a pointed look.

"Absolutely, and in front of the cubs too?" he answered immediately and shamelessly.

She never thought her brother could go so red, but red he did. Even Grimmjow had the decency to look ashamed, although she had a feeling it had more to do with the loud yowl the entire pack had heard over the thought of having sex where the cubs could hear them.

"I am only here for a week, I am sure your brother would be more than willing to share his den, at least until after the cubs are born. At lest you should be able to get some sleep for a while without needing to listen to these two go at it like a pair of ally cats," she smirked at them. _'__Wow, who knew Ichi-nii could go THAT red.__'_ she chuckled mentally.

Unlike her, who smiled inward, the rest of the pack had no problems pocking fun at the Alpha pair and laying on the cat jokes. Karin set into her breakfast pleased with the results she had wrought. It was nice to see the new members settling in so easily, and to see Grimmjow not getting all defensive over a bit of teasing, especially since the entire topic had to do with him submitting when he should, technically, be the Alpha in that little relationship right now.

With the Alpha pair being embarrassed by the pack, her brother was too distracted, and embarrassed, to pay any attention to her. She was doing fine, but she didn't want to talk to Ichigo just yet over the events that had happened.

'_I am not a coward, I will speak to him before I go back home,__'_ she did vowed to herself.

(POV)

"That is enough," Harribel spoke up, brining the teasing to an end.

Ichigo shot her a grateful look, already pleased she had joined the pack. She had reported in first thing in the morning, informing them that she had spread the warning and message. None of those she spoken to had cubs, but the word was out there now and would hopefully spread. Who knew, with the prospect of a safe den and the protection of a large and powerful pack, more Arrancar might just feel the desire to finally settle down and mate. Without Aizen to drive them anymore, there was really nothing for this new tier of powerful hollows to do other than hunt, sleep, and stare at the moonlit sky and endless sand.

'_At least here they have the chance for companionship. To feel safe and be able to engage with others. Who knows, maybe they will even start to pick up things like hobbies. Szayel already is a science nut, maybe someone will be interested in agriculture. Urahara-san did mention something about a greenhouse or something,__'_ Ichigo thought.

His eyes drifted over to where Karin was tucking into a large breakfast, his sister seemly comfortable being the only human at a table full of Arrancar, and even seemed well rested for the first time since the incident. He vowed to talk to her about the event in question, but for now decided to let her approach him on her own terms. So far as she continued to show signs of improvement, he would leave her be. He got over Ulquiorra's death, mostly. He had faith that she could overcome this.

As if knowing that he was thinking of her, Karin looked his way and offered him a small smile. There was still pain there, but she wasn't trying to hide it from him. Good. It was a true sign that she was starting to heal.

"So, When should we give the cubs their right of passage?" Szayel questioned, brining Ichigo's attention back to the current topic at hand.

"Sooner than later," Grimmjow answered. "Especially with two new ones coming."

"Should we do it before or after the eggs are laid?" Ichigo questioned. "I am perfectly fine, more or less, but you are still weak and will be for a while," he pointed out.

"Yes, but I will probably be weakened for some time, and by the time I lay others may have already joined in. Since you seem to be fairly strong still, why don't we do it sooner than later. We don't know what kind of effect laying will have on you," Szayel pointed out.

"True enough," Ichigo agreed. "What do you say in two, maybe three days? Is that enough time to get that giant jungle gym set up to run them through the course?" he questioned.

"It should be," Szayel agreed easily. "Especially since we suddenly have a large number of extra hands to help out with the set up. Do we still plan on running Cachorro and Hijastro together?" he questioned.

"Yes," Grimmjow answered without any hesitation. "As unusual as it is, I think it will be for the best."

"Yeah, I agree," Ichigo agreed. "Do we tell them about it, or just spring it on them?"

"Tell them about it I think," Szayel answered. "Give them a bit of time to get prepared and train a bit. Most young know about the hunt leading up to their right of passage and practice for it. I see no reason to hold the information back."

"Me either. How did you guys do Yukina's right of passage?" Grimmjow suddenly questioned the others curiously.

"It was Harribel-sama's idea. We set her the task of catching ten lizard in an hour and set her loose. She caught fifteen," Mila Rose answered with a smile of pride.

"Really, we can't get any of the cubs interested in their pet, at least not enough to chase it down," Ichigo laughed, thinking of the little hollow lizard still contently living in it's large fish tank in their new den. "They play with it on occasion, but forget about getting them to hunt it."

"Oh she didn't kill them either. Pure catch and release," Sung Sun spoke up. "The mere idea of killing them abhorred her."

"Crazy second generation," Apachi snorted.

"You are just jealous because you don't have a cub," Mila Rose scoffed.

"Ladies," Harribel spoke up before the three could enter into a bickering contest.

The conversation steered back to the obstacle course and the rest of breakfast was spent designing it. Afterwards Nel's 'brothers' started to clean up breakfast while Tesra oversaw them and started to plan lunch. Ichigo left it to Grimmjow to inform the cubs about their up coming right of passage while he followed Szayel down to the lab so they could become better acquainted with the set up, equipment, and the location of all of the supplies. They even started a list of a few things they noticed they had forgotten to ask for or felt they might need more of than what Kisuke had supplied.

"How have you been doing?" Ichigo questioned, now that he was alone with Szayel.

"Alight," Szayel answered with a shrug. "Compared to what H'tsu did to me, this was almost child's play. It could have been infinitely worse," he added after a short pause, his voice almost cracking before he cleared his throat. "I will feel better once he is dead, or at least found and imprisoned."

"Hmm," Ichigo agreed.

He wasn't one for killing, but in this case he agreed. Kurotsuchi had crossed too many lines, and if Karin and Yylfordt had been but a day or two later, the crimes would have been even more compounded in a most vile way. He was a mad dog, and the only thing to do with such creatures was to put them down. He honestly didn't trust anyone or anything to keep Kurotsuchi contained.

Szayel suddenly looked off into the distance, and Ichigo froze while sending his own senses out to see what it was that had caught his companions attention. He was getting better at detecting spiritual energy, but it still took him a moment to find what it was that had caught Szayel's attention. A smile crossed his face as the familiar power of several of his friends fell into his sensing.

"C'mon, we are pretty much done here anyway," Ichigo ordered, setting down the pad they had been recording their list on.

"I swear, if he gets those cubs hyped up on more sugar, I am sending them home with him," Szayel sighed as he followed Ichigo out the door.

"Yeah, but you just know that, somehow, they would still behave for him, and when it comes time to pick them up, they would probably just be on an even bigger sugar rush," Ichigo pointed out.

"Touché," Szayel agreed.

Neither one spoke about what they were really hoping for; that there would be news about what Soul Society planned to do with the rogue who had attacked their family twice now. And this time, since Ichigo's pack had been accepted for the most part, they were allies. Hopefully, the news would be good, but they both mentally prepared themselves for bad. After all, it wouldn't be the first time Soul Society had disappointed him.

* * *

><p>Well, for those of you with S.O.'s I hope you enjoyed yesterday. Those of you without, well, Happy Singles Awareness Day. For those interest, I made homemade shepherds pie, complete with beef slices instead of burger, and we cuddled while watching The Princess Bride. Not really big Valentines Day nuts.<p>

Huge hugs for everyone who reviewed. You make my world go round.

Next Chapter: Umm, I just finished this one two minutes ago, so no clue, but at least expect to see Ichigo's friends.

This Weeks Question: Do you prefer filler arcs, or that the anime take a break? In my case; take a bloody break. Although, I will confess, I greatly enjoyed the front half of the Zanpakuto Rebellion Arc. The back half was crap, but the front was really interesting. Bount made me twitch, and those bloody puppets deserve a very foul death, more so for messing up the fight between Renji and Yylfordt. The worse, by far, was that piece of shit last filler arc. God, never seen such a marry sue character in an anime before. The whole arc was like a poorly written fanfict. Let's not even get started on that little whinny noble girl from the replacement Captain arch.


	54. News

News

Ichigo quickly headed towards the large playroom, the sound of eight excited cubs squealing in delight reaching his ears. He didn't even need to check for reiatsu to know that Jushiro must have been one of the visitors because he was the only Shinigami that got the cubs so crazy in excitement.

'_Come to think of it, he's the __**only**__ person that can get them all going like that by doing nothing more than walking into a room,'_ Ichigo couldn't help but to think amused.

"He had better not sugar them up," Szayel sighed beside him.

"If he does, I won't let him leave and I'll make him stay and take care of them until the sugar rush is over," Ichigo promised with a small shake of his head.

The two adults turned the last corner and entered the large room. You could barely see Jushiro under the pile of cubs surrounding him. Even little Yukina was shyly mixed in. Ichigo honestly wasn't surprised. Jushiro just had a way with kids. He wasn't surprised to see that Jushiro's didn't have his Zanpakuto with him. In fact, all of their guests Zanpakuto had been left sitting on the dinner table not far from where Grimmjow was leaning against it.

Jushiro may be the one being swarmed, but Rukia and Renji were both sitting comfortably in the pile of cubs as well, Cachorro was even sitting across Renji's shoulders, taking the high ground. Ichigo winced a little, knowing just how heavy his son was now. Renji was going to have some pretty stiff shoulders later. Surprisingly, Byakuya was also here, standing next to an elderly woman Ichigo did not recognize but was clearly a warrior and noble by the way she stood in a pose that almost mimicked Byakuya's. Unlike his Shinigami friends, this unknown woman was wearing several layers of very expensive kimonos. Obviously, she was easily on par with Byakuya's noble standing, which led Ichigo to wonder who she was and why she was here. A relative perhaps? She didn't seem to share the same genetic markers as Byakuya, but she could have married into the family. There was something familiar about her though….

Harribel was leaning against the opposite end of the table from Grimmjow, intense green eyes keeping a close watch on the three Shinigami playing with the cubs. All three of Harribel's fraccion were there as well, watching in a mixture of amusement and weariness. Gainten… Gaiten…

'_Damn it, I think Grimmjow is right. Who can remember a bloody name like that?__'_ Ichigo silently cursed while mentally re-labelling Gantenbainne as Gants in his own mind as well.

Gants was not present, no doubt out on his own patrol. Karin was currently not present, and neither was Tesra or Nel's brothers. He could hear the missing Arrancar in the kitchen, Tesra directing the two new Omega's in lunch's preparation, making Karin the only one truly absent. There seemed to be minimal tension in the room, which was a relief. Nel's easy acceptance and remembrance of Rukia and Renji helped ease those two in and how could anyone be tense when the cubs were clearly so delighted to be swarming the man kneeling on the ground and handing out presents? The other two intruders were a good distance away and Ichigo was pleased that Byakuya had recalled that much and was keeping the complete stranger at a respectful distance from everyone else.

"Oh, and who is this charming young girl?" Jushiro questioned as Yukina finally gained enough courage to fully approach him.

"Yukina Mosqueda," she introduced herself shyly.

"Yukina-chan hmmm? What a beautiful name for a beautiful young lady. I am Ukitake Jushiro, but you can call me Juu-chan if you want," he smiled at her, earning a giggle and a nod. "Tell me, Yukina-chan, do you like pretty things like ribbons?" Jushiro questioned.

"Yes," she answered, her voice still shy but with a tint of excitement now.

"Well then, you will probably like these," Jushiro pulled out another small bundle of ribbons and fabric from somewhere on his person.

Yukina let out a soft chirp of delight and accepted the ribbons and fabric before bounding over to where Hijsatro and her little sister were already going through thier bundle so the girls could compare and trade.

"It makes you wonder how many pockets he has, doesn't it?" Ichigo questioned as he finished closing the distance to the rest of his pack with Szayel by his side.

"He seems completely at ease," Harribel noted. "The cubs seem to adore him."

"That's because he spoils them," Szayel sighed. "Please tell us he didn't hand out any candy while we weren't looking?" he begged.

" 'fraid so," Grimmjow admitted. "I told him that he was going to be the one dealing with their sugar rush. Princess stick up her ass and her companion apparently got some news for us," he nodded over towards the other two intruders who were waiting patiently to be acknowledged.

"Princess stick up her ass?" Ichigo questioned confused for a moment, looking at the stern looking woman standing next to Byakuya. "Was she rude to you or something?" Ichigo questioned suspiciously.

"Who, her? Nah, she hasn't said a word yet. She's been intently studding the whole pack though," Grimmjow answered with a soft growl.

"Than… oh," Ichigo barely managed to choke back a laugh when he realized _whom_ Grimmjow was referring to as Princess stick up her ass. "Make sure he doesn't hear you call him that. Trust me, you do not want to be caught on the wrong side of Senbonzakura's Bankai."

"You beat him. You saying I can't?" Grimmjow challenged.

"I only won because he underestimated me. And truthfully, I think Byakuya, deep down, wanted to lose because he knew I would rescue Rukia when he could not," Ichigo admitted softly. "I mean, he walked away from our battle while I could barely stand, does that sound like someone defeated?" Ichigo pointed out.

"Not when you put it that way," Grimmjow admitted.

Content that his pack was handling Jushiro, Rukia and Renji's presence just fine (how could they not with the cubs and Nel going wild?) Ichigo walked over to Byakuya and the strange woman. Grimmjow nodded to Harribel before following after Ichigo while Szayel sat down at the table and took over Grimmjow's position guarding over the small pile of Zanpakuto. In all honesty, they were less worried about the Shinigami using those weapons against them than they were worried about the cubs getting a hold of them and hurting themselves.

"Kurosaki," Byakuya nodded at him as Ichigo finished closing the distance with his mate as his side.

"Yo, Byakuya. Who's your fiend?" Ichigo questioned, holding back a smirk as Byakuya twitched ever so slightly at the familiar use of his name. The strange woman, on the other hand, let out a small, amused smile.

"This is Consoler Shihoin Yorika-sama, a representative from Central 46," Byakuya introduced formally.

"Shihoin eh? You related to Yoruichi?" Ichigo questioned curiously, putting the genetic markers in place as he studied her.

"She is my grand niece," the woman answered honestly, "although for a time the family refused to acknowledge her existence when she was branded a traitor thanks to Aizen's treachery.

"I am here on official business from Central 46 to deliver the courts findings on the case your representative has brought before us regarding Kurotsuchi Mayuri-taichou's actions against your family."

Ichigo found himself stiffening and glanced over to where the cubs were still playing excitedly and where Szayel was sitting down in a chair next to the pile of weapons, exhaustion clouding his frame to those that knew what to look for.

"Let's talk about it elsewhere," Ichigo ordered.

Yorika gave him a nod of her head and the Alpha Pair led their two guest out of the large room and somewhere a little more private. They picked one of the many rooms Kisuke had half renovated, so there was at least a comfortable spot for everyone to sit and it was dust free, even if the walls still needed to be painted and only half of the furniture was there.

"So, what have they decided to do about the asshole?" Grimmjow demanded, breaking the silence first after everyone was comfortably seated.

"It has been decided by the supreme Central 46 court that, in light of the obvious assault against a registered ally, to whom we owe our very lives to for stopping Aizen, the unauthorized kidnapping of your two daughters and companion shall be met with reproach. Kurotsuchi Mayuri will face a full court-martial as soon as he has been located and detained. Warrants for his arrest have already been issued to all Division, including the Onmitsukido. Soi Fon-taichou is leading the search for him as we speak."

It was a start at least, a bigger start than he had honestly anticipated.

"What kind of repercussions can we expect if he is successfully tried?" Ichigo questioned, leaning forward in his seat as he did so.

"Most likely, he will be returned to the high-level security prison known as Maggots Nest, where he will be left to live out the rest of his days in solitary confinement," she answered.

"He can share a cell with Aizen," Grimmjow let out a bark of a laugh.

"Is that answer satisfying Kurosaki-san?" Yorika questioned.

"It's honestly better than what I expected, considering some of the other bullshit he's gotten away with," he admitted.

"I am please you are satisfied. I do have one request before Kuchiki-taichou escorts me back home, now that my mission is complete."

"What is it?" Ichigo questioned.

"If it would be possible, I would very much like to get a closer look at the cubs that have my grand niece, not to mention Ukitake-san, so enthralled," she requested with a small smile.

"I will see what I can do. Cachorro is usually fairly accepting of strangers and Hijastro usually is too, but they have all been a bit more weary and shy after the kidnapping. There are a few things you must do when approaching them."

Ichigo led the way back to the large playroom/livingroom/dinningroom while explaining to his guest the proper way to approach the cubs, while warning her she could end up bitten and reconfirming she still wanted to try. By the time they made it back, the male cubs plus Nel were all over the large jungle gym playing with the new toys Jushiro had brought for them while the girls continued to sort through and start using the ribbons and scraps of cloth they had received and, with Szayel assisting, started to make various hair pieces and other such finery. Harribel had taken over guarding the weapons and Renji and Rukia were both lost somewhere on the large jungle gym, partaking of the game currently going on while Jushiro sat at the table speaking pleasantly to the other Adult Arrancar, seemingly completely at ease.

Since it was going to be damn near impossible to find and corner Cachorro, or any of the other cubs in the giant melee that was going on, Ichigo decided to try Hijastro instead. It would be a good test to see how she was coming along.

"Hijastro hunny," he called as he walked over to the girls.

"Yes, Papa?" Hijastro turned her attention his way.

"That woman over there is Shihoin Yorika, she's Yoruichi-san's great aunt. She wants to meet you if you are up to it," he put the request to her softly, kneeling down so they were at eye level.

Hijastro looked over at the softly smiling woman who was waiting patiently beside Byakuya and Grimmjow.

"She's a relative of Yorui-san?" Hijastro questioned.

"That's right. You don't have to go see her if you don't want to," Ichigo assured his daughter. "It is entirely up to you and I would be disappointed if you say no."

Hijastro chewed on her lip for a moment while her wings buzzed nervously before nodding her head and getting up onto all fours.

"It's okay Papa. You are right here, and so is Mapa and Grimm-ji and even Bya-sama. I am brave," she assured him, puffing up.

"That's my girl," he smiled proudly at her.

He switched his gaze to Szayel, who seemed just as nervous as his daughter was. It was still so soon after their kidnapping and Ichigo didn't think either of them weak for their fear and uncertainly. After a moment, Szayel forced his body to relax and gave Ichigo a small nod of his head. His proud smile widened as he led Hijastro half of the way over, letting her climb up into his shoulders.

"You are getting way too heavy for this," he complained good naturedly.

"You shouldn't tell a lady she's heavy," Hijastro countered.

Ichigo couldn't help but to laugh, remembering when Nel had once told him something similar, only at the time he'd been carrying Orihime, who he swore was actually lighter than his daughter. Those hardened shells covering her wings added a lot of weight. He swore Hijastro was even heavier than Cachorro.

He gave a nod to Yorika, who approached slowly just as she had been instructed. There was no fear in the elderly woman as she stopped before them and slowly extended her hand for Hijastro to sniff. Hijastro was trembling only slightly on his shoulders, but she did sniff the offered hand before relaxing and resting her head against the open palm.

"You smell nice," Hijastro commented. "Just like Yorui-san. Can you be a cat too?" she asked curiously.

"I haven't been a cat for a very long time," Yorika chuckled. "I am afraid my old hips don't like the transformation very much anymore. I must say, Hijastro-chan, that you are every bit as charming and beautiful as Yoruichi reported you were."

Hijastro's wings buzzed in pleasure and Ichigo felt his daughter relax fully on his shoulders as she preened in pride.

"I must admit, the cubs are far more charming than I thought they would be. I was honestly expecting half wild beast, not a menagerie of excited kittens and a calf. Will they ever be able to take a more humanoid shape?" Yorika questioned.

"We don't know yet. We think they will be able to when they are older and can seal their powers away the way the other Arrancar can. As it is, they are still children and haven't come fully into their powers yet, not to mention we really don't want them carrying around swords, or whatever other form their sealed powers will take, just yet," Ichigo pointed out.

"Yes, I can see how that would be a hazard. As much as I would love to stay longer, and get to know this charming young lady some more,"

Hijastro buzzed in pleasure on his shoulder at the compliment and positively preened some more.

"I do feel that my unexpected presence has put enough of a strain on the rest of your pack," she nodded towards the table of distrustful woman. "Thank you for letting me meet you Hijastro-chan. You are truly a brave and remarkable cub to be willing to see me so soon after what happened." Yorika offered the child a small bow.

Hijastro let out a bit of shiver at the reminder, but the praise caused her to puff out once more and she thanked Yorika for her compliments while offering the elderly woman a small bow of her own from his shoulders.

"I will see you out," Ichigo offered.

He turned about and held out his arm for Hijastro to launch herself so she could fly back to her Mapa and pile of ribbons. The light caught her wings and they shimmer beautifully before she landed and folded them away. Behind him, Ichigo caught the ever so faint stirring of surprised pleasure from his guest as the beautiful display.

Since Byakuya was acting as Yorika's escort, he retrieved his Zanpakuto from the table, the pile once more being guarded by Grimmjow, before the two guests followed Ichigo out to the spot they had designated as the 'gate in' location.

"Thank you for letting me see a glimpse into your pack life. Shihoin woman have a tendency to be blunt," Ichigo nearly choked, but managed to refrain himself, "and I got a feeling you are not a fan of fancy, noble, double talk, so may I be blunt with you, Kurosaki-san?"

"Yes," he answered, feeling a bit of relief at the offer.

"No doubt you have guessed that part of my coming here personally was to see your pack for myself, to asses any danger to Soul Society and to report my findings to the rest of Central 46."

He gave a nod of his head, indicating he understood and for her to continue.

"The growing size of your pack is also a cause for concern, and some fear you are another Aizen Sosuke in the making, breeding and raising Arrancar to fight for you in another invasion. You did invade us once already," she pointed out with an amused chuckle.

He opened his mouth to protest and defend himself, but a touch from Zangetsu encouraged him to keep listening instead, so he did so. H'tsu murmured something he didn't quite catch, but decided he was better off not knowing anyhow.

"A large number of your Shinigami friends have insisted this is not the case, and have pointed out how open you have been about what has been going on here. In truth, the council is rather divided. Some think we should eliminate the threat. Others feel more comfortable knowing where most of the Arrancar are so we can keep track of them. And still others feel that you should be left alone and Hueco Mundo is not our concern. There is one thing we did all agree on, and I hope you will agree to it as well without being affronted."

"And what might that be?" he questioned suspiciously.

"We would like to post one of the acting Taichou here at all times, in a rotation of course, so that they may report back what is occurring here and put the minds of many of the councillors at ease. There was some argument over which Taichou should be chosen, but it was made clear to us that who ever was chosen must be at ease with your pack.

"It was argued that your friends would be a poor choice since some of the councillors more opposed to your pack's presence feel that they may omit things from their reports out of loyalty to you, that you may even convert them to your cause. Others argued that sending someone you are not comfortably with would put strain on the pack and your relationship with Soul Society, and could inadvertently start the very battle or war they are trying to avoid.

"We tossed names back and forth for some time before we felt that we had come to an acceptable list of Taichou your pack would accept amongst them, as well as several Fukutaichou and other seated officers you may be willing to admit. I have the list here."

Ichigo accepted the piece of paper and read through the list, giving a nod of his head at most of the names on it.

"I already told Ji-san that I didn't mind visitors, and I would actually welcome seeing a lot of my old friends. Thank you for being so open with me. Most of these names I am personally fine with, but each person needs to pass muster with the rest of my pack, and until after the next two eggs are laid, and preferably hatched, I don't want to introduce anyone my original pack hasn't already met, let alone the new comers. I assume Jushiro-san is here for the first rotation should I say yes?" he questioned.

"Yes. That was our hope," she offered him a smile of gratitude. "We figured you would find him the least threatening," she confessed.

"He is always welcome to stay with us. The cubs adore him, and from what I have learned from Rukia, staying here would be just the break he needs from his division," Ichigo chuckled. "As for the next rotation, either let Jushiro-san stay for two weeks or send either Unohana or Renji. Szayel wouldn't have laid yet and I don't want any real strangers around until after both eggs are laid. Actually," Ichigo suddenly frowned as a thought occurred to him. "Send Unohana-san. We are not certain if I am going to have any difficulties laying my egg since I am not entirely an Arrancar. It would personally make me feel a bit more comfortably having another highly trained medic around," he confessed. "We can set up a schedule after that and slowly introduce new people."

"I must say you are being very understanding Kurosaki-san. I will confess that I was not expecting so much co-operation when we are so blatantly delving into your private lives," she offered him a small smile of appreciation.

"Well, I know it's going to take everyone some time to get use to the idea of 'good hollows' and we don't have anything to hide," he blushed a bit at the compliment. "And hey, any excuse to see my friends more often and give them a bit of shore leave. I missed them a lot after the war," he confessed.

"Has Central 46 been getting copies of the information and reports Szayel has been sharing with Kisuke?" he questioned.

"I am afraid most of those reports went to the 12th," she confessed.

"I see. I'll talk to Urahara-san and see about making sure you guys get your hands on the copies from now on, and a back log of the ones I know he has stored somewhere. Like a said, we have nothing to hide and I have already seen how poorly keeping information hidden from your allies has negatively effected Soul Society. Who knows how much of that data Kurotsuchi lied about or omitted."

"Again, I find myself pleasantly surprised, Kurosaki-san. I hope that your family would be willing to come visit us someday, and put the minds at ease of more of our councillors."

"Perhaps after all the cubs are hatched and everything settles a bit," he offered.

"Are you ready to return Councillor?" Byakuya questioned respectively.

During their conversation they had reached the outside shed designated for portals.

"Yes, thank you Kuchiki-taichou. Thank you for your hospitality, Kurosaki-san," she offered him a nod.

"Anytime. Feel free to drop by after the cubs hatch," he offered.

She seemed a bit surprised by his offer, but covered it quickly and gave him a small smile.

"I just may do that."

Byakuya opened the portal home and Yorika walked regally through the gate.

"See you next time Byakuya," Ichigo smiled at him.

"Kurosaki," he nodded stiffly before going through the portal himself.

Ichigo let out a sigh as he was left alone, feeling the tension that had crept up on him drain out of his body. The meeting had gone rather well and he found he kind of liked Yorika, not to mention how proud he was of Hijastro for bundling up her fear and approaching a complete stranger.

Giving his head a shake, Ichigo turned about and returned to the rest of his pack. He would have to see about getting Jushiro a room set up. Rukia had told him of Jushiro's condition and he nibbled on his lip as he debated on setting Jushiro up away from the rest of the pack or closer so he could listen for any potential attack the older Shinigami may have. He would have to set up several guest rooms in another wing for when the others came to visit because not everyone of his friends would be so easily accepted by his pack. Byakuya, for example, was still held at arms length by Cachorro, and the other males now that he thought about it. Only his two daughters had ever opened up to the noble.

"They gone?" Grimmjow demanded as Ichigo walked into the large room.

"Yeah," he answered, joining the other Arrancar plus Jushiro at the table. Rukia and Renji were still playing with the cubs, but it looked like they were all almost ready for a nap, and that included his two Shinigami friends.

"Lunch is almost ready, if you would like to reign the cubs in," Tesra announced from the kitchen.

"Thanks Tesra," Ichigo waved, letting him know they had gotten his message.

"Oi brats, lunch time," Grimmjow hollered out.

A half dozen loud squeals of delight echoed through the room as all of the cubs came tumbling over in a damn near stampede, running towards their respective parents. Nel, lacking a parent, stole Harribel's lap instead. Ichigo had a damn near war going over for who got his lap as the triplets vied for the right to the spot. His daughter eventually gave up and crawled hesitantly onto Jushiro's, who accepted her with a wide smile. That left her two brothers until Renji reached over and plucked one of the squirming cubs.

"Mind if I take this one?" he questioned.

"Go for it," Ichigo chuckled.

"Aww, I want one," Rukia pouted.

Hesitantly, and currently denied a lap since his Mapa was in the kitchen and his Papa was out on patrol, Ternero approached her.

"Oh, Ternero-kun, how kind of you," Rukai beamed at him as the calf curled up on the bench beside her, resting his head in her lap.

It took a moment to get everyone settled and Ichigo looked about the table, frowning when he noticed Karin was still missing.

"Has anyone seen Karin since breakfast?" he asked concerned.

"Karin is here?" Rukia questioned surprised.

"Yeah, she has the week off school for, you know," he waved his hand in the air.

"Oh," Rukia nodded in understanding. "How is she doing?" she asked softly.

"She seems to be doing alright so far. It clearly upset her, but she seems to be dealing with it. I am going to make sure to speak to her before she goes home, but for now I think it's best to let her approach me instead of forcing anything," Ichigo answered.

"A good decision," Jushiro agreed.

Tesra and Nel's fraccion started to bring out the platters for lunch before the conversation could continue down that vein. The trays were well put together and Ichigo couldn't help but to think that Yuzu had done a superb job in training Tesra. If the food tasted half as good as it looked, well, everyone was going to have satisfied bellies. All of his attention was on feeding the cub sitting in his lap and making sure everyone got a fair share.

Karin came in about halfway through lunch, Yylfordt by her side as he switched off his patrol with Apachi. The two Arrancar exchanged a few words while Karin continued on her way towards the table and helped herself to lunch.

"Hiya Karin-chan!" Rukia greeted her happily.

"Rukia-neechan," Karin smiled at her. "It's good to see you again. Renji, Jushiro-san," she greeted the other two Shinigami.

"Karin," both men returned the greeting.

"You look like you've just finished running a marathon," Renji noted, taking in Karin's dishevelled condition.

"Sword practice," she shrugged. "I still got a long way to go," she admitted as she tucked into lunch.

Apachi left the room while Yylfordt joined them at the table, taking a seat beside Karin and heaping up a plate of his own.

"Nothing to report. All is quiet and those hovering are still hovering at an acceptable range," Yylfordt reported.

Ichigo gave a nod of his head at the report since his mouth was currently full of food. He swallowed before speaking. "Good to hear. Since we are all gathered here at the moment, we should talk about getting the cubs trials ready."

Cachorro, Hijastro and Ternero perked up at that, looking at Ichigo in excitement and anticipation. The three were practically vibrating in excitement. Almost everyone was sitting at the table now and Ichigo couldn't help but to wonder what this Christmas was going to be like. His pack was already so large and, if things happened the way he thought they would, it was going to get a hell of a lot bigger by December.

"So, what is our trial going to be Papa?" Cachorro questioned, excitement in his voice.

"Ya, what do we get to do Papa?" Hijastro added.

"Do I get to do one too?" Ternero questioned.

"All three of you do," Ichigo agreed. "And we decided to use the big jungle gym and play a big game of Predator and Prey."

That got the three cubs excited. They loved Predator and Prey, which was honestly just a slightly more aggressive version of tag.

"Wait, we always play together. Are we going to get to do the test together?" Cachorro questioned curiously.

"Yes," Grimmjow answered.

"Do you want to do the test with Cachorro and Hijastro, or on your own Ternero?" Ichigo questioned.

Even though they had originally planned on having him run separate, if the three cubs wanted to run together he wasn't going to say no. In the wild they probably would have done the test together anyhow. Not that three cubs in a pack was really heard of. Two cubs was exceedingly rare as it was. Ichigo couldn't help but to think about how wild Grimmjow had gone when he'd laid the triplets, a day that was only eclipsed by the day all three had hatched.

The three cubs shared a look, thinking about the question before Ternero finally spoke.

"What do you think Cachorro?" he questioned the Alpha cub.

"It should be fine," Cachorro agreed.

"Alright, all three of you together," Ichigo easily agreed.

Lunch finished and the cubs were herded back to their respective dens for a nap. Even though Cachorro, Hijastro and Ternero were starting to get too old for naps, they went without a fight today. That was good. Ichigo needed to inform the rest of his pack about his decision to permit his Shinigami friends to be stationed her on a rotating schedule. There was also the need to get a guest wing ready and finish the renovations. Kisuke had promised to return in two days to give the new pack time to settle before continuing on with the renovations.

'_**Just remember King, you are the Alpha. If they got a problem with it they can leave, or be stupid enough to try and vie for your spot.**__**'**_H'tsu's voice was ringed with exhaustion, just a reminder that the cub was draining him so strongly.

'_Hmm,__'_Ichigo agreed to the statement. He wasn't expecting any trouble with his decision. After all, with Kurotsuchi on the loose, having an extra ally wasn't that bad of a thing.

* * *

><p>Bit of a boring, set up chapter, but those are, regrettably, necessary. A lot of different responses to last weeks chapters, and I enjoyed reading them all. Filler is stuff they put into the anime only to help keep it behind the Manga. Sometimes it's not bad, like if it's just an episode or two or if it's something the author had originally wanted to put in but was unable to for some reason (examples of this include the small Ashido arc and Harribel's past). Most of the time it's just god awful and not written by the original author at all, like the bount or that last piece of crap filler they did.<p>

Next Chapter: Predator and Prey at last. Better come up with some names for the cubs….

This Weeks Question: Do you have any pets, and if so, what kind? I got a dog, a cat, four goldfish and a pleco (algae eater).


	55. Predator and Prey

Predator and Prey

Pride was an emotion Grimmjow was all too familiar with. He felt it almost every day of his life. What made the pride he was feeling today different than normal was because the pride was not for himself, but rather for the three cubs practically vibrating with excitement while Ichigo explained the course and objective.

Somewhere in that maze of ladders, tubes, little houses, and a dozen other little toys Kisuke had built into it, and the walls they had added to it for this occasion, was their target. They were not told who their target was and were given only the faint trace of some of their target's blood on a cloth to follow. Szayel had extracted the blood with a needle so their target wasn't actually harmed in anyway.

There were two other decoy targets in there and Ichigo and himself were going to be acting as additional predators, stalking the cubs and making sure they remembered to watch their own backs while hunting. He could have easily caught and cornered all three cubs himself, but he was going to seriously down play his own skills to give them a chance, as would Ichigo. The rest of their family, Grimmjow couldn't honestly think of them as anything else anymore, not after so long, sat on the sidelines with wide grins of excitement.

Yuzu was sitting next to Tesra with the female triplet settled comfortably in her lap. They were apparently involved in a conversation that seemed to be about recipes at the moment. The human teenager and Arrancar seemed completely at ease and were, ever so shyly, letting their fingers brush as they stroked his daughter's fur. Those two would probably mate shortly after Yuzu finished school as the fair haired twins dream was to basically be a house wife with a devoted husband, something Grimmjow knew Tesra had in more spades than any person could possibly need. Once Yuzu had earned his trust and loyalty, she had it for the rest of her life, that's just the way Tesra was.

Yuzu was also as different from Nnoitra as one could get. Male/female, aggressive asshole/mild and polite, tall/short, black hair/blond hair, hollow/human, and the list went on. There was absolutely nothing about Yuzu to remind Tesra of Nnoitra and the pain of losing the Espada he had worshiped. Nor was there anything about Yuzu to remind him of Kurotsuchi and the time he had spent as the freaky bastards test subject. Ternero also loved Yuzu as much as she loved him so there was no worry in that area and she was all too willing to accept the boy as her own. Yuzu was going to be a great mother and he could already see those two having more cubs than he and Ichigo did in half the time.

Szayel was holding the middle male triplet, a small smile on his own face as he watched his daughter intently take in the instructions she was receiving. He was rather weak right now with his own laying getting closer, but there was just as much pride in those eyes and on that face as Grimmjow was sure was on his own.

Yylfordt and Karin were sitting side by side with Karin leaning comfortably against Yylfordt and the last triplet spread across their legs, sighing in content as two sets of hands stroked his fur. It seemed like Yylfordt was explaining to her about the passage of right and she was listening intently, nodding her head occasionally. If they ever did mate her own child would go through it as well, and Grimmjow had no doubt those two would when she was older and ready. Grimmjow was surprised how much he was actually looking forward to that day, if only to see Ichigo freak out as much as to see more cubs and his old companion truly settle down. After everything he had gone through, Yylfordt deserved a break and a mate as strong willed as Karin was. She might not be as powerful as some of the other options, but she definitely had the blood lines to produce strong offspring and the attitude to raise them.

Isshin had a large grin plastered on his face and was trying vainly to wave three flags, one for each child, while prancing about behind everyone else like a crazed soccer fan. Although, Grimmjow did catch the odd tightening of his lips when his eyes drifted towards his two daughters and their increasingly significant others, but at least the old coot didn't try to intervene, at least, not yet.

Harribel and her original pack were on patrol, making sure nothing interrupted this while Nel's fraccion were watching over Nel and Yukina in Harribel's room. Nel had wanted to be here, but they had convinced her to stay with Yukina so that the poor girl wouldn't be all alone. Nel had consented after that.

It looked like the cubs were done getting their instructions and were now limbering up while discussing their tactics. It was just about time to start the game. Ichigo tossed him a small smile before nodding his head and disappearing into the large maze. Grimmjow did the same, finding a spot and settling down. The cubs target was in a set location for now, but there were decoys. Bands of the targets blood had been placed on both the two decoy target and on a dozen little hollow lizards that Szayel had attached a tracking collar to so they could catch them afterwards. There was a bonus lizard, the very one Grimmjow had captures years ago, who had a gold band around its neck and no blood tainted cloth. If they managed to find him they were guaranteed a large bowl of their favourite ice cream for dessert for an entire week.

The sound of a whistle blew, indicating the cubs could start their trial. He may have been unable to see them, but he easily tracked them with his nose and reiatsu. He could even hear the soft buzz of Hijastro's wings as she took to the air. He gave them a few minutes to get into the maze and engaged with their task before he started to hunt them. He didn't move with all of the stealth he was capable of, that would have been unfair. Even his reiatsu was not as tightly controlled as it could have been.

He had a pre set route he was suppose to patrol, so he stalked down it at a leisurely rate. It had been a long time since he had hunted on all fours, but the size of the equipment made it necessary in several places, especially where the tubes ran. It also made him a smaller target and harder to find.

The one who was practically radiating his location was Ichigo. Even to this day his mate had little control over his reiatsu and was lit up like a New Years celebration. He felt his skin flush at the feeling of his mates powerful, wild reiatsu, his mind dancing back to the feeling of that power brushing against him as they mated. He had to give his head a shake to get it out of the gutter and to tell his libido it could take a cold shower. This time was for his son, for the cubs. He could shag Ichigo afterwards, maybe even in the shower.

He felt and smelt the cubs approaching his position and continued on his patrol. He felt them freeze, having clearly detected him. He had to hold back his smirk of satisfaction, to not let his muscles bunch up and ready himself for an attack.

'_What are you going to do Cachorro? Will you attack me? Will you let me pass and slip by behind me?__'_ he questioned himself while continuing on his route, growing ever closer to where the cubs were hiding.

He passed their location, pausing briefly to sniff the air, basically letting the cubs knew he had detected them. He felt their reiatsu actually conceal a bit better and once more had to hold back a smirk of satisfaction before continuing on his patrol. The cubs had let him pass and he felt them dart across his route after he turned the corner. He reached the end of his route and turned about, returning the way he'd come.

A weight hit his back, taking him completely by surprise as Hijastro landed on him from behind. He barely had time to register she was there before he felt Ternero's weight join hers in keeping him pinned. In a flash of grey, Cachorro had his teeth around the red band on his arm and pulled it away.

"Gotcha Mapa," Cachorro cheered happily, although not too loudly so as to give away their positions to others.

The cubs had doubled back on their path until their scent and reiatsu had littered the area. Because he had detected them going pass him after turning the corner and continuing his route, he had disregarded the lingering scents and had ceased tracking them since they should have completed his part of the challenge. He never suspected the brats would dare to actually set an ambush for him. He felt his chest fill out with pride at the well executed ambush, as well as a fair amount of annoyance at himself for letting his guard down and falling for it.

He let out a soft chuckle and easily got back to all fours with Hijastro and Ternero draped over his back, although Ternero's hooves were almost to the ground. Hijastro shuffled a bit more on his back to make herself more comfortably and he could feel her chest vibrate against his back as the sound of her pleased purring reached his ears. She was rightfully please with herself.

"Good work brats," he complimented with a smile. "But you're not done yet," he reminded them.

He crouched down a bit until Ternero's hooves were on the ground and the calf like Arrancar stumbled away. Hijastro simply fluttered off of his back to land next to Cachorro.

"We won't forget," Hijastro promised him.

He let himself fall back to the ground, making dramatic death noises before going still. The cubs giggled before darting away. He remained prone for a moment before finally sitting up and giving his head a shake. The cubs had gotten him good and he was damn proud of them for it.

He stood up and stretched a bit before abandoning his patrol and leaping higher up on the jungle gym so he could have a better view of the course. Hijastro was the easiest to spot as she was flying surveillance from the air, but even she darted in and out of his sight as she flew between bits of cover. He watched them as they moved in on the flash of red that belonged to one of the two decoy targets.

He smirked as the cubs worked their way around the target, not engaging and doing their best to give the decoy, in this case Renji, a wide birth. He couldn't help but to smirk, pleased that they hadn't fallen for the decoy and continued on. He left his position in the air and landed next to the Shinigami they had shanghaied into helping them run this.

"Didn't fall for it, did they?" Renji asked with a smirk.

"Nope," he agreed easily.

"I didn't think they would. That son of yours has one sharp nose," he chuckled.

They heard the cubs engage a new target, judging by the reiatsu it was Ichigo. He chuckled and leisurely made his way towards his family, not wanting to interrupt the training in progress. Renji followed beside him. There was no point in him remaining in the 'den' he'd been assigned since the cubs had already pinned him as a decoy. The other decoy was Rukia and she was quite a ways away. With the path the cubs were taking it was unlikely that they would come across her.

He'd been hesitant to let the two Shinigami participate, but they were old friends of Ichigo and the cubs were very comfortably with them, even Ternero. Besides, this way the rest of the family could watch and cheer, and he could hear them cheering, especially the girls.

It sounded like Ichigo was given their cubs a run for their fur because the commotion was still going on. In fact, he and Renji paused at the last bend so they wouldn't accidentally interfere with the training.

"MAPA!" Cachorro came flying around the corner crying in alarm. "Come quick! Something is wrong with Papa."

Message delivered, Cachorro raced back around the corner. Grimmjow and Renji quickly rounded the last corner behind the frantic cub to see Ichigo laying on his side, his body trembling and his clothes soaked to him from the sheer amount of sweat that was pouring out of him. His reiatsu was fluttering weakly and he was panting heavily.

"Ichigo!" both men cried out as they raced to his side.

Grimmjow fell to his knees beside his mate, worry pulling at him as Ichigo panted heavily, his eyes glazed over in pain and almost unseeing. His skin was so pale he almost appeared as white as H'tsu did. Renji, for his part, gathered up Ternero and was holding the worried cub tight as he trembled. Hijastro was gone, but returned shortly with a very concerned Szayel by her side.

"What's going on?" Szayel demanded, joining him by Ichigo's side as their Alpha panted in agony.

"Papa was training with us when he suddenly clutched his stomach and started panting," Cachorro answered, worry in his voice.

"Ichigo, can you hear me? Ichigo?" Szayel called. "Tell me what's wrong, what hurts and where?"

Ichigo didn't answer, simply curled up in a tight ball while continuing to pour sweat out of his body and pant while letting out soft cries of pains interspaced with pathetic whimpers. Ichigo was not someone who was unfamiliar with pain and Grimmjow could count on one hand the number of times Ichigo had ever let out anything resembling cries and whimpers of pain.

"Good damn it what's wrong with him Szayel?" Grimmjow growled, feeling panic well up in his own chest as he stared helplessly at his mate. "Did that freak face get to him or something? Some sort of delayed infection?"

Szayel grabbed Ichigo's hand and licked some of the sweat off of Ichigo's wrist, tasting it and rolling the flavour about before shaking his head.

"I don't think so, he taste fine and while his reiatsu is distressed, it doesn't seem to be from an outside cause. Renji, get the cubs to the others and get Isshin up here," he ordered.

For a second it looked like Renji was going to argue, but he took one look at Ichigo and quickly gathered up the protesting cubs.

"No, I want to stay with Papa," Cachorro hissed, ducking behind Grimmjow and avoiding Renji's arms.

"Me too," Hijastro agreed.

"Come on kids, you are only going to get in the way and they need room to work," Renji wheedled.

That caused Hijastro to deflate, and without further argument she flew off to find her uncle. Renji turned his attention to Cachorro, who was glaring at him with his hackles up and his fangs bared, just daring the red head to try and remove him from his father's side. Any other time Grimmjow would have been exceptionally proud of his son, but right now Renji was right, the less spectators the better.

"Cachorro, go with Renji," he ordered his son.

If things did get bad he definitely didn't want his son to see it. Ichigo was clearly not getting any better, if anything he was getting worse and it was all he could do to keep his own panic reasonable. He couldn't imagine losing Ichigo now, not after everything, not after having four cubs with him and making a truly powerful pack. If he lost Ichigo he would also lose his place as Alpha, that role would fall upon Harribel as she was the strongest. While he didn't mind Harribel that much, and reluctantly admit she would be a good Alpha, the very thought of losing Ichigo made him ill.

"No, I want to stay with Papa. I won't get in the way," Cachorro promised, leaping away from his grasping finger to land on top of one of the little houses. "I will stay right here, I promise."

"Leave him be," Isshin ordered, arriving on the scene. "Renji why don't you let Rukia and Jushiro know what is going on and see if one of them can't get Unohana," he ordered.

"Alright," Renji agreed reluctantly, taking Ternero with him as he left the scene.

It was exceptionally hard to do, but Grimmjow moved away form Ichigo to give Isshin room to sit beside his son.

"Prognoses?" Isshin asked.

"I don't know. It looks like his stomach is bothering him and his reiatsu is destabilized. He's losing a lot of water. We should get him to the medical ward and an IV in him before he losses too much more fluid," Szayel suggested.

Isshin listened while checking his son over, checking his eyes and pulse and a dozen other things the medics seemed to look for. Grimmjow didn't care what they did, just so long as they fixed whatever was wrong with Ichigo. He hadn't felt this helpless since the search for their missing daughter had led them nowhere. Actually, at least he had been able to do something about that, even if all of their searching had been fruitless at least they had been doing **something**. This… there was nothing he could do about this but watch and hope the other two knew what the hell they were doing.

"Yeah, let's get him to the medical ward. Grimmjow," Isshin looked at him.

He didn't need any further prompting than that. He scooped his trembling mate up, shocked at how hot Ichigo seemed to be and how much the body being held against his was trembling. It almost seemed like Ichigo was in the midst of having one giant seizure and his whimpers increased.

He leaped up into the air and launched himself into a Sonido the moment he was clear of the any obstacles from the giant jungle gym. Isshin was right beside him carrying Szayel, who was incapable of using Sonido right now thanks to his own pregnancy. There was no time for weakling jokes, this situation was all too serious.

"Ichigo, what hurts? What's wrong? You got to tell me," Grimmjow pleaded over and over again as they raced through the corridors.

"Sta… stomach," Ichigo managed to stuttered out. "Here," his mate rubbed at his stomach before trying to curl up again and letting out a whimper of pain.

"What did he say?" Isshin demanded.

"That his stomach hurts," Grimmjow answered.

They reached the medical ward and raced Ichigo over to a bed. It was almost harder to set his mate down on the bed than it had been to hold still and not interfere when Cachorro had hatched. He did manage to get Ichigo on the bed, but he kept one hand captured in his and tried not to think about how weak Ichigo's grip was nor how wet it was.

Szayel and Isshin set about getting Ichigo hooked up to monitors and getting an IV into him with a quick efficiency that only the truly professional had, even if looks of extreme worry were on both men's faces, especially Isshin's.

"Ichigo, I need to you speak to me. I know it hurts, but you have to tell us what is wrong," Isshin spoke up, resting a hand on his son's forehead.

"Stomach…. hurts…." he muttered. "Like…. pushing…."

"The egg!" Szayel suddenly gasped. "Ichigo, do you think you might be in labour?" Szayel quested urgently.

Either the pain was really bad or Ichigo was thinking, either way it took almost half of a very painfully long minute before Ichigo suddenly nodded his head.

"Grimmjow, strip him down while I grab the machine," Szayel ordered.

It was far too easy to get his hand back from Ichigo, and damn near impossible to get the clothes off. They were caked to his mate's body from the sheer amount of sweet, not to mention it was almost impossible to get Ichigo to uncurl enough to get the shirt off. He ended up tearing the shirt in the end to get it past the IV line and wires Ichigo was hooked up to that monitored his vital signs. Isshin handed him a bowl of cold water and a cloth and he started to wipe the sweet off of Ichigo's body.

He had never seen Ichigo so weak, not even after having his soul torn into three, and yet here Ichigo was, whimpering and curled up in a ball of pain, seemingly oblivious to everything going on around him. It was, perhaps, the most unpleasant thing Grimmjow had ever seen.

'_And to think there was a time I would have taken an extreme amount of enjoyment seeing him like this,__'_ he couldn't help but to think. _'__Now, though I would NEVER admit it to anyone, I am terrified I might lose him. Ichigo you idiot, you didn__'__t have to do this. So like you, jumping in without thinking of the consequences or even pausing to ask anyone around you if they even wanted you to do something,__'_ he thought with a mixture of fondness and exasperation.

Ichigo let out a loud cry of pain and curled up some more, making it impossible for Szayel or Isshin to get to his stomach so they could see what was going on. The smell of blood started to taint the air and any fondness Grimmjow might have been feeling instantly disappeared under a font of pure panic as blood started to run down Ichigo's stomach.

"Damn it!" Isshin cursed, grabbing the nearest cloth to try and help stem the flow, but not having much luck getting Ichigo to uncurl enough for him to get the cloth to where the teen was starting to bleed. "Help me here!" he ordered sharply.

Grimmjow and Isshin pried Ichigo apart, the screams of his mate ringing painfully in his ears and heart as the two men held Ichigo spread eagle far too easily while Szayel rushed in and started putting pressure on the blood that was starting to flow far more quickly from Ichigo's stomach as the seconds ticked by.

"Gentlemen, if I may be of some assistance," a calm voice flowed through the room.

All eyes but Ichigo's darted towards Unohana as she walked calmly and serenely up to the bed, brining with her a wake of calmness. Without showing the least amount of concern, she pulled a glove on her hand and grabbed Ichigo by the hair, before ripping his soul out of his body and setting him on the floor.

Ichigo's screams died down and he panted heavily. There was a hole in his stomach and seconds later the egg popped out without a problem. The three, previously panicking males simply stared in astonishment while Ichigo panted desperately for breath on the floor and was trembling.

"Uhhhh. I should of thought of that," Szayel admitted sheepishly.

"Yeah, me too," Isshin agreed stupidly.

Grimmjow let go of the now limp body and damn near used Sonido to travel the half a step to Ichigo's side. Ichigo was looking infinitely better now that he was out of his body and was curled up around the egg. His trembling finally stopped and he regained his breath rather quickly.

"Thank you , Unohana-san," Ichigo finally managed to get out while Isshin and Szayel dealt with his, now completely still, body.

"You are quite welcome, Ichigo-kun. Grimmjow, might I suggest you take your mate and egg to your den. Ichigo can stay out of his body for a bit while we tend to it," Unohana suggested.

He didn't need any telling twice and scooped up the slowly recovering hybrid with their egg and retreated back to their den, passing a very worried Rukia and Orihime as he did so and directing them to where Ichigo's body was so the young woman could heal it.

Ichigo was asleep by the time he tucked everyone into their nest. Despite his own exhaustion now that the adrenaline had run out and the danger had passed, he found himself incapable of falling asleep and simply lay there awake, gazing down at a slightly pale Ichigo and the large egg he was curled around, the first offspring he had sired.

'_I wonder__…__.. how many times did Ichigo do this exact same thing with me?__'_

* * *

><p>It was wonderful to read about how many of you have so many pets, and even some unique ones amongst you. As usual love the reviews, you gals and guys make my day. Damn that last chapter of Bleach was a WOAH chapter, mainly that last page.

I have no idea how long it will be before the next chapter as I just finished writing this one. You can usually tell which chapters are not pre written ahead of time because the quality tends to be lower than other chapters.

Next Chapter: No clue, haven't even thought of it yet.

This Weeks Question: If you could own an **exotic** pet, or pets, what would it, or they, be? I personally would love one of those tame foxes I read about in a magazine, probably the same ones your mother wants KJC2025. I would also love to have a large, glass/caged room with tropical trees and two ponds connected by a stream with a bridge going over the stream. I would keep Koi in the ponds and a large selection of exotic birds in the room. Of course, if I could afford that, than I could afford someone to clean it for me too, lol, just think of all the moulted feathers that would end up in the pond. I would also love a big ass aquarium, like wall size, full of exotic fish. My little 33gallon seems so small…

I am a very bad girl, I forgot to add the link to the fanart that Wishsayer did... Karin/Yylfordt wishsayerDOTdeviantartDOTcom /art/Karin-X-Yylfort-357179485 She does some really amazing work with animals, I encourage you to check out her gallery.


	56. Re aquaintance

Re acquaintance

Szayel was feeling pretty foolish for not having thought of getting Ichigo out of his human body. The only saving grace for his pride was that Isshin hadn't thought of it either, so there was that little boost to his ego for so utterly failing in something so simple, so basic a peon would have thought of it. His own pregnancy didn't help any either. He was exhausted. Worn out. Drained to his outer core. All he wanted to do now that the excitement was over was to crawl into his nest and sleep for a couple of days, preferably up until when he laid himself.

He had checked on the cubs once they had finished cleaning up the lab. Tesra and Yuzu had taken over watching them, gathering them all up and herding them to Tesra's chambers as evening came upon them. By the time he checked in on his daughter, all the cubs had been fed and were curled up together in Tesra's nest, deep asleep in a giant pile of skewed limbs. He decided to leave them be, especially when both Tesra and Yuzu assured him they had no problems watching the cubs for the night.

He approached the room he shared with the Alpha Pair and paused outside the door. Ichigo and Grimmjow were both in there with their new egg. No doubt they would not want to be disturbed, especially after the stress of the difficult laying. He let out a sigh and let his hand fall from the door handle. Perhaps he should den down in the large playroom…. again.

A scuffle made him turn around, surprised to see Yylfordt standing behind him looking at him uncomfortably. Karin was standing beside his brother, a small smile on her face. She whispered something to Yylfordt, who gave his head a soft nod in response to whatever it was she had whispered to him. She offered that small smile his way before moving past him to disappear into Yylfordt's room. For a moment, there was silence as the two estranged brothers stared at each other.

"Ichigo okay?" Yylfordt was the first to break it.

"Yes. The egg was laid successfully," he answered.

"Good."

Awkward silence hung between them.

"They probably want to be left alone after something like that huh," Yylfordt spoke up again.

"No doubt," he agreed.

More awkward silence.

"You, uh, want to den down with Karin and me tonight? We got the space, and she won't mind," Yylfordt offered hesitantly. "Give those two some space and all that."

"I.." he paused and let out a sigh. "Very well," he agreed.

If anything, at least Karin could offer him some interesting conversation, and it was much better than sleeping in the large, echoing, cold, silent, more than ten times the size of the last one, lonely playroom.

'_It would also give me a chance to better study this bizarre relationship my estranged brother seems to be sharing with that human girl. Unlike Ichigo, Karin is 100% human and doesn__'__t posses any hollow qualities. I am curious to see what it is my _brother_ sees in her,__'_he mused.

Yylfordt's room wasn't very far down the hall from the Alpha Pair's and he followed in his brother's wake, passing through the portal that Karin had just gone through. His nose instantly smelt the wonderful aroma of freshly brewing coffee and he silently cursed Ichigo for introducing him to the stuff while being just as silently pleased that Karin had the foresight to put a pot on. Grimmjow was right, as frightening as such a thought was, the stuff was damn near good enough to die for and he wished Aizen had seen fit to give them Coffee to drink during his meetings instead of that weak, bitter tea he liked to serve, absent of anything to help ease the bitterness. Hell, would it have killed him to put some sugar on the table at least?

Karin looked up from the pot she had been watching like a starving hawk as they both entered and gave them a pleased look. He had no idea why she was happy to see him seeing as how the two were courting. His presence in their den should have been the last thing they wanted. Not that hollows were accustom to courting, although two hollows of equal strength might do so for a time as it wasn't worth the danger of being eaten if one of them honestly didn't want to mate. Lesser hollows would also court a more powerful one for the sake of safety or because they had the desire to mate, much like how he had once attempted to court Grimmjow when they had still been Adjucus. It had been rather annoying when one of the others would interrupt his slow advances, and that had happened far too frequently for his liking. Freaking D-roy, that was one loss that was certainly not worth mourning. Celebrating perhaps. Pity it hadn't happened sooner, like when they were still Adjucus before he gave up and left the pack.

This was the first time he had actually been in his brother's den since they had moved and he found himself looking around. It was spotless, perfectly decorated and well organized, as expected from a Grantz. If it was one thing he shared with his brother, it was a strong fashion sense. There was also only one nest and he found himself raising an eyebrow, wondering if Ichigo knew his little sister was sharing a nest with the much older Arrancar. One thing Szayel did know was, he sure as hell wouldn't be the one to tell Ichigo that his sister was already sleeping with the Arrancar. He valued his continued existence.

He could see several little things around the den that were clearly influenced by Karin, such as the Vanilla flavoured coffee cream she pulled out of the mini fridge to flavour her coffee with while also pulling out the toffee flavoured one he knew his brother preferred. There was also some of her clothing hanging up in the closet, including some training uniforms that were similar to his brothers outfit. He strongly suspected he would find some of her bathroom supplies mixed next to his brother's as well if he were to check the bathroom.

"Would you like a cup of coffee Szayel?" Karin asked, being the first to break the uncomfortable silence as if she didn't even feel it.

"Yes, please," he answered without hesitation.

"Sit down and I will bring it too you. Two sugar, splash of cream, right?" she confirmed confidently.

"Yes," he agreed.

Of course Karin knew how he liked his coffee, they had known each other for quite some time now. The conversation was simply to break the ice. He also noted that she had invited him to sit down, subtly telling him to plant his ass on the couch and to stop hovering uncertainly. He did so, sinking into the plush cushions and leaning back to fully enjoy them. He was tired and not afraid to show it, not when he was with his pack and had the honour of being pregnant with the Alpha's Beta's cub; a rather amusing title when he thought about it but an apt description for Grimmjow.

The pot finished gurgling and Karin prepared three mugs before leaving the little kitchenette and joining them. A stern look at Yylfordt, who was still hovering uncertainly, had him planting his ass quickly on the opposite side of the couch. Karin handed him his coffee before settling down beside Yylfordt and curling up against her definite future mate with comfortable ease, handing Yylfordt his cup as she did so.

"How is Ichi-nii doing?" Karin asked, once more being the first to break the silence.

"He is doing well. Once we ascertained the problem, the rest of the labour went smoothly," he answered honestly. The warm cup was comforting as he nursed it between his hands. "Did your father not inform you as such?" he asked confused.

"Of course he did, but he's my father, which means Ichigo could be in the ER room with Unohana-san putting his guts back inside of him and hanging on to life by a thread and he would _still_ claim Ichi-nii was fine," she pointed out dryly.

He had to give her that point. Isshin was stupidly overprotective of his girls, a state that could get them into big trouble one day, especially Karin who was gaining in strength. They shared some idle chatter about what had happened, and he even confessed how it was Unohana who had quickly fixed the situation. Through it all he noted that Karin did most of the talking, but he didn't think it was because she was the dominate in the relationship, but rather because he was still estranged from his brother.

Yylfordt, if anything, seemed distracted and wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. Eventually they finished the pot and Yylfordt rose to make another. The room fell into silence once again.

"What were they like?" Yylfordt was the one to break the silence this time.

"What was who like? Honestly brother, I need context before answering such a vague question," he sighed.

Yylfordt glared at him, and probably would have made a snappy comeback, but instead he watched fascinated as his older brother took a soft breath and clarified for him.

"My family," he clarified.

Szayel felt his body freeze at the question before looking down at his empty mug, the only sound in the room was that of the coffee percolating. He didn't want to remember, because when he remembered he remembered how he had died, and following that he quickly recalled everything H'tsu had done to him. Still, he looked over and Yylfordt was watching him intently with a mixture of hope and fear.

"Why does it matter? They are long passed on," he pointed out.

"I don't know why, but I want to know. Did I love them, did they love me? What happened to us that we became hollows?"

He knew why he had become one, he had died while being violently raped and had unfinished business. He didn't know how or why Yylfordt had died though, that had been long after he had already become a hollow and had moved on. He did recall that his daughter's death had devastated his brother, and he supposed that the grief from the loss could have lingered on after his brother's death, that would have warranted hollowfication.

He had no desire to speak to his brother about his own death, but he supposed he could speak about their living life a little. Szayel was intelligent, and he could read between his brother's words. Yylfordt wanted to know if his late wife was anything like Karin, perhaps even know if he had been a good husband. Doing wrong by Karin would get him flayed alive first by Ichigo, than by Isshin. Yuzu would probably settle for poisoning him by feeding him miss cooked food and making his life a living hell by putting pins in his clothes or something. Honestly, Yuzu's wrath would probably be the more frightening one.

Karin silently refilled his mug and he gave her a small nod of thanks before deciding on an answer for his brother's question.

"They loved you, and you loved them very much, especially your daughter. I think it was her death that ultimately lead to your hollowfication… as it led to mine," he found himself admitting softly. "I died before you did so I can't say for sure, but I do know she was the center of your world."

He stared at the coffee in his hands as he spoke, his mind going back to those darker days when he had nearly worked himself to death trying to save his wonderful, bright niece. In a way, Yuzu reminded him of her. She was always thinking about others and had a smile on her face. Even when Ichigo had gone into labour she had remained calm and pleasant, easily taking over watching the children without a second thought and staying out of the way to let those that knew what they were doing work. Yuzu would have loved his niece, and he had no doubt she would have loved Yuzu.

"What was she like?" Karin asked curiously.

He spent the next hour talking about his mortal life, Karin and Yylfordt listened mostly silently, having the occasional questioned, but otherwise just let him talk. He didn't give them the full details of his death, they didn't need to know the specifics, only that he had been murdered while trying to find a cure, and that the cure had been found after she had died.

They went through three pots of coffee and he found himself drifting off near the end, exhaustion, both physical and mental, pulling at him. He didn't even realize his eyes had drooped closed until he felt someone taking the mug from his hand and someone else tucking him under a blanket.

He shifted more comfortably onto the couch and drifted to sleep shortly after, images of his bright and cheerful niece dancing before his mind's eye. He was use to waking up early, so it was no surprise he woke up before Karin and Yylfordt. He was feeling surprisingly rested for having slept on the couch in a strange room. A glance over at his brother made him raise an eyebrow.

Karin was nestled comfortable against Yylfordt, but no hands were where they shouldn't be and both of them had clothing on. Both of them looked rather comfortable and he couldn't help but to watch them. He hadn't seen Yylfordt look that peaceful in, well, the last time would have been when his late wife was pregnant, before their daughter had been born and her sickness discovered.

It was odd waking up without Hijastro, at least, by his side. He was more use to waking up with half the cubs piled on or around him. He didn't really have anywhere to be and he shifted before drifting off to sleep once more. He woke up ten minutes later, something in the room disturbing him. He didn't have to wait long before he heard the sound of someone sniffling. Being careful not to make any noise, he peeked over the back of the couch to see Karin awake and trembling, her face soaking wet from tears. Yylfordt was also awake, but remained silent and did nothing more than hold the distraught teen as she shook in his arms. He had no doubt that Karin had woken up from a nightmare. It was one of the concerns both Isshin and Ichigo had for her, and Szayel was not surprised to discover she was having them after what she had gone through. She was, after all, a human teenager who led a relatively complacent life.

Szayel suddenly felt like he was intruding on the couple, and silently slipped out of his makeshift bed and out the door. He let out a sigh as he leaned against the wall on the other side. It was early morning, but he know the cubs would probably be waking up soon. The faint scent of coffee on the wind let him know that someone was in the kitchen and awake. His guess was either Tesra or Yuzu, or possibly both but he doubted it since he knew that they would never leave the cubs unattended. Brushing his fingers through his hair, he pushed off from the wall and made his way to the large room that housed everything from the playground to the kitchen table.

His guess was somewhat right. The only thing he hadn't accounted for was the cubs being in the playroom with Tesra while Yuzu was in the kitchen holding a wooden spoon and directing Nel's foolish 'brothers' in the breakfast preparations like some sort of General. It was rather amusing to see the two Arrancar being lorded over by a human girl, one who seemed sheepish and shy most of the time, at least until she was in her kitchen. This was a side of Yuzu few had seen and he could see why Tesra was attracted to her. The two would do well together when she was older.

He didn't make it far into the room before the cubs spotted him and he was swarmed. His daughter landed on his shoulders and he held back a wince as her heavy weight settled on him. She was getting far too big and heavy to be carried around like this, and while even he wasn't foolish enough to call any female heavy, the carapace that covered her delicate wings was rather weighty.

"Good morning Szayel-san. Would you like a cup of coffee?" Yuzu called from the kitchen, not even looking his way.

"That would be appreciated," he agreed, nearly stumbling over the pile of cubs surrounding his feet as he made his way towards the table.

Cachorro finally go this siblings plus 2 under control and herded them back to the giant jungle gym they had been playing on before he had come into the room. His daughter spared an extra moment to give him a hug before leaping after the other cubs and taking to the air to fly her way back to the top of the highest tower. It looked like they were playing some sort of 'capture the princess' game where Cachorro was defending his oldest half sister while the other cubs tried to make it pass him to get to her. Hijastro wasn't making it easy either as she would occasionally change which tower she was on.

Yuzu arrived with his coffee and he took a long whiff of the heavenly scent before cradling the cup in his hands and simply watched the cubs play with a faint smile. He was about halfway through his cup when Ichigo's Shinigami friends joined them. If he recalled correctly, Harribel and her original pack would be on patrol for the next little while so the Alpha pair could adjust to the laying of the egg, even if it was a few days early.

"Good morning," Yuzu greeted the newcommers. "Would you like some tea Ukitake-san?" she asked.

"I would like that, thank you Yuzu-chan," he offered her a small smile.

"Coffee, tea?" she asked Renji and Rukia respectively.

Both gave some sound as affirmation before joining the white haired taichou at the opposite end of the table from him.

"I trust all is good with Kurosaki-kun this morning?" Jushiro questioned him. "Unohana-san said all went well last night once they got him out of his human body."

Szayel couldn't help but to cringe a bit at the reminder. He really should have thought of something so basic and the only saving grace he had was that Isshin hadn't thought of it either. In his defence, he really wasn't use to dealing with humans and often forgot Ichigo was, technically, human. The young man was so much like an Arrancar/Vizard that they all tended to forget he was still in a mortal body half the time.

"They were doing well when I saw them last," he agreed, answering Jushiro's question.

Renji and Rukia both seemed to ease up a bit as he answer. Yuzu came out at that time and delivered Jushiro and Rukia their tea while setting down a cup of black coffee before Renji. Szayel gave a bit of a shiver, wondering how anyone could drink coffee black. It just wasn't right. The crème and sugar brought out the true flavour of coffee. You might as well be eating plain rice. Granted, he never credited Renji with much in the way for brains, let alone an appreciation for the finer things.

Yylfordt and Karin arrived just after Yuzu disappeared back into the kitchen. Karin looked completely normal, as if she hadn't just been crying from a nightmare. Yylfordt ducked into the kitchen to grab his own coffee and a quick snatch of food before heading out to take his turn on patrol. Karin sat down across from him, thanking her sister as Yuzu delivered another cup, this one smelling faintly of vanilla from the added, flavoured creamer.

"Thanks," Karin muttered after Yuzu was gone.

He didn't need to ask what it was she was thanking him for. Even in the after throws of her nightmare it was clear she had still recalled he was there, had probably even seen him sneak out. He offered her a short nod of his head and took a soothing sip of his coffee, Karin mimicking him.

There was some conversation going around the table, but he didn't pay it much attention, instead focussing on the cubs playing their game. Ternero finally managed to tag Hijastro, causing the others to cheer, including Nel, who was the one who had finally pinned Cachorro down long enough to let the others get passed him to Hijastro.

The game turned into a wrestling match, the teams interchanging at will, and he couldn't help but to let a soft smile touch his lips while his free hand lowered to rest on his stomach. He had never thought to see his cub able to play with others, to be so carefree and safe. And the Alpha pair had seen fit to bless him with another cub, one that would be laid soon. Like his daughter, his next cub would be raise beside the Alpha Pair's, being granted all the privileges and protections. Of course, he would pay for the privilege by feeding their cub like the good little Natural Beta he was.

'_Only because H__'__tsu trained me so well,__'_ he couldn't help but to think bitterly.

The old him would never have conceded so willingly to the life he was now living. H'tsu had thoroughly broken him and Ichigo had put him back together with the help of his pack.

'_In retrospect, this life is arguably better. I still have a beautiful lab, and a menagerie of cubs to study.__'_

Yuzu came out of the kitchen with her two helpers loaded down with breakfast plates. The conversation turned to exclamations of delight and the strong scent of breakfast summoned the cubs in a stampede. Tesra intercepted the kids and got them all in their proper seats with practiced ease. Sometimes, Szayel couldn't help but to wonder if there wasn't a bit of Natural Beta blood running through Tesra's veins. He knew Tesra wasn't one for he would have been able to feed Ternero if such was the case, not to mention he was obviously interested in courting Yuzu when it would be the human girl who would have to carry the future cubs.

The sound of an excited breakfast twirled around him as everyone settled in to eat. Hijastro was more than capable of feeding herself and he left his daughter to it while he picked at his own meal, lost in thought.

He didn't think the Alpha pair would cub him again. The idea had been there, and he was honoured they had done so, but he could tell it had made both of them more uncomfortable than they had thought it would. It was obvious to one who knew what to look for. Ichigo may have let Grimmjow mount him, but it hadn't taken long before the Pack Alpha was once more the one on top, even before laying. And while Grimmjow may have been able to sooth his Alpha needs on him, it hadn't taken long for old patterns to return. The truth was, Grimmjow loved it when Ichigo dominated him simply because Ichigo was so damn good at it and made sure his Beta was well taken care of before even his own needs. In a twisted sort of way, Ichigo was acting both as an Alpha and a Beta, for it was the Beta who was suppose to see to the Alpha's pleasure.

There was only one other Arrancar around who was stronger than him, Harribel. He paused as the thought touched his mind, his chopsticks with it's piece of fish halfway to his mouth as the idea rattled in his brain.

True Harribel was female, and as such she lacked the organs, per say, to get her DNA encoded fluids into him to make sure HE was the one who ended up pregnant, but there had to be away around that. In fact, his mind was already working furiously at the idea, assuming she would even agree or be interested in mating with him. Unlike humans and Shinigami, there was no sperm per say, just the fluid and both sexes gave that off. If he could get Harribel's release inside of his body during the mating ritual, there was a good chance she could impregnate him.

'_Not now. I have time think about this. First, I have you to take care of,__'_he thought to the budding reiatsu in his stomach that would be emerging soon.

A loud commotion broke him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see Grimmjow strutting into the room like the proud predator he was. The blue haired Arrancar was practically swarmed as everyone started to demand to know how Ichigo and the egg were doing. Such schemes could wait until later. He finished his breakfast quickly, refilled his coffee, and followed a non protesting Grimmjow back to the Alpha Pair's quarters once the former 6th had managed to assuage every ones worries and answer their questions. He would need to check on Ichigo to make sure the young man was recovering alright while also meeting the cub he would be caring for by the end of a month. He would also begin his own nesting pretty quick here, and that would take place in the Alpha Pair's den.

Ichigo was awake when he entered the den, curled up happily around the egg and looking much better than he had last night. Isshin was just packing up his supplies and chattering away happily with his son, who had a look of semi content suffering on his face. Family was like that and Isshin truly did love his family, even if he was a goofball about it half of the time.

Ichigo looked their way and tossed them a relieved look as they entered, his eyes going right to the heaping plate of food Grimmjow was holding for his mate. Szayel wondered how long Isshin had been poking and prodding at his son, estimating it was easily over an hour. Great, that meant he would have to wait a while before doing his own poking and prodding as Ichigo was bound to be rather irritable after being at the centre of his father's attentions.

"Get out already old man, and let him rest," Grimmjow demanded.

Isshin pouted, but did finally relent and finish packing up the last few items into his bag.

"Have you spoken to Karin yet?" Isshin asked seriously, all signs of a goofy father gone and settling his bag of medical supplies over his shoulder.

"Not yet," Ichigo admitted. "I was going to speak to her tomorrow before she goes home if she doesn't come to me first. I think we might want to leave her here a few more days. I wasn't exactly expecting to have my cub so soon," Ichigo shook his head.

"Should have. You never do anything the right way," Grimmjow grunted. "Now eat, before I cram the food down your throat myself. And you, get out and let my mate eat," Grimmjow growled at Isshin.

"I am leaving," Isshin chuckled, heading towards the door, but not before pausing to hand Szayel the report. "I need to head back to my clinic, keep in touch," Isshin ordered before finally leaving.

Szayel eagerly began to leaf through the papers, setting his coffee on the table before him so he could have both of his hands free. For all of Isshin's faults, he did keep impeccable medical records. This would easily entertain him for some time. Still, he couldn't resist a peek over to where the Alpha pair were curled contently around their new egg with Ichigo shovelling food into his mouth as fast as he could. The young man did have a lot of strength and energy to regain after all.

* * *

><p>Sorry this took so long to get out. Between work, chain panic attacks, my lap top dying and needing to rescue my hard drive, and my munchkin, I barely had time to breath, let alone write. Things haven't gotten much less hectic either.<p>

Thank you all so much for your reviews. I greatly enjoyed reading what kind of exotic pets you wished you owned.

This weeks Question: Who also reads my other ficts, which ones, and which of my ficts did you read first?


	57. Nesting

Nesting

"You know, even though this is the fifth one, I can never get over staring at them," Ichigo sighed contently, looking at the egg he had laid mere days ago nestled against his side.

The shell was warm to the touch and rough textured under his fingers, which was a good sign the protective exterior was thick and strong, thus giving the cub developing inside a high survival rate.

"Hmm," Grimmjow agreed absently, the 'hmm' being about the only sound his mate was capable of making with Ichigo's fingers raking through his powder blue hair while they gazed contently at their impeding offspring.

While it was nice to experience what Grimmjow and Szayel went through with their own pregnancies, Ichigo was damn certain he was never going to let himself get knocked up again and, further more, was surprised Grimmjow was even interesting in continuing to mate, especially after laying the triplets. One egg had been bad enough, three had to have been worse than hell, and he knew how much Grimmjow hated being weak.

"_**You are the Alpha, King. He has no choice. You want cubs, throw him down and fuck him until he howls,**__**"**_ H'tsu spoke up_**. **__**"**__**Now if only you would let me out to play with my toy. I guarantee that he would have all the cubs he could ever dream of,**__**"**_H'tsu purred in promise.

Ichigo ignore his hollow out of long practice. H'tsu was all talk anyways, the hollow part of his soul remembering all too well the beat down the Alpha Pair had given him when he had last been caught with his dick in the cookie jar.

'_Not an analogy I ever thought I would use,__'_Ichigo thought with a grimace at his own thoughts and tried to banish the mental image that went with it. Grimmjow and H'tsu have both been a bad influence on him over the years, it was a wonder he let the cubs around their Mapa at all, let alone his sisters. Sometimes it seemed like Zangestu was the only sane one in his head, and that was just pathetic.

"_**Oi!**__**"**_H'tsu protest, while he swore he heard Zangetsu's deep chuckle in the background. _**"**__**I get no love around here,**__**"**_H'tsu pouted.

"_I wonder why,__"_Ichigo responded dryly.

"_**Humph!**__**"**_

"_The weather has been nice in here, Ichigo,__"_Zangetsu spoke up.

Ichigo smiled at his Zanpakuto's remark, knowing exactly what Zangestsu meant. He had been rather happy of late, what with his growing family and all the sparing he got in with Grimmjow, both on and off the training grounds…. literally some days.

One of the triplets let out a cute yawn, showing a hint of fang before squirming to make himself more comfortable in the pile the cubs had created. Arms, Legs and tails were all tangled up with blankets in the body pile his family made. It was a good thing his father had returned home because Ichigo wouldn't put it past his father to hide a camera somewhere and trip some sort of alarm just to see them all scramble apart in a wild melee of stepped on tails and elbowed sides. He almost envied Szayel, who only had one cub at the moment to share his nest with.

"_Back on topic, given the choice, I am sure Szayel would trade for my place any day,__"_

Both Zangetsu and H'tsu made agreeing noises to his statement. If Szayel had a soft spot, it was the cubs. Thinking of Szayel, Ichigo listened carefully, the slight smile on his face widening just a bit further at the sound of a pen sliding over paper coming from the other side of the divider that separated the two nests. Even if Szayel had managed to get both hands removed, he would still find some way to write in his journal, documenting his observations of the cubs, and no doubt addition observations over what happens when an Alpha lets a Beta top.

Grimmjow shifted a bit, the cubs hardly moving as their Mapa stretched and made his head more available for Ichigo's fingers in a very catlike manner, not that Ichigo would ever dare to make the analogy aloud. Ichigo didn't blame him, a good head scratching put him into a damn near stupor as well. No wonder prime apes groomed each other so damn much, not to mention how much the cubs went bonkers over a thorough brushing, especially Hijastro. In fact, the young girl got pretty loud with the purring when she got a good grooming.

"You know, I've been thinking," Ichigo spoke up, knowing he had his mate's attention by the way Grimmjow's body posture shifted a bit, "every time we try to give Cachorro and Hijastro their naming ceremony, something comes up to interrupt or stop it. Maybe something out there is telling us that they should just keep their names the way they are."

"If they want," Grimmjow shrugged indifferently, "Honestly, it's been so long that the thought of calling them something else seems wrong," Grimmjow agreed easily, his eyes half lidded as Ichigo's fingers continued to massage his scalp.

"If we do that, we are going to have to think up names for this little one," Ichigo indicated the egg.

"I am sure something will come to us," Grimmjow answered dreamily. "It did for the triplets," he pointed out.

Ichigo hummed in agreement and decided to let the topic drop for now as his Mate was clearly not into the conversation. He could possibly get Grimmjow's attention by stopping the scalp scratching, but doing so could result in a loss of limb. Besides, it wasn't often the proud Arrancar was this laid back with so many defences down. It was best just to enjoy the intimate moment with his family.

"So, when do you think Yylfordt is going to the balls to ask for our blessing to fuck your sister?" Grimmjow asked curiously.

Ichigo damn near choked at the blunt question, and ceased scratching Grimmjows scalp to hit him over the head, hard, not only for daring to suggest such a thing, but for doing so in front of the cubs, even if they were sleeping, or at least pretending to. Grimmjow just chuckled and shifted so they were facing each other now.

"In all seriousness though, the two are getting closer. What are you going to say when the times comes?" Grimmjow questioned curiously.

"What can I say?" Ichigo sighed, running a hand through his shaggy locks. "To say no would make me a hypocrite, not to mention Karin would murder me before ignoring me and doing her own thing anyway."

"If you said no, Yylfordt would listen," Grimmjow assured him. "Well, that or leave us with Karin to start their own pack," he added after a moment.

"All the more reason to say yes," Ichigo sighed, not liking the idea of his sister running amok around Hueco Mundo and out of his sight. If she was going to mate with an Arrancar and move here, he was damn well going to keep her and her family where he could protect them.

"I find it amusing that you and your old man are getting upset over Karin and Yylfordt, yet no one is looking twice at Yuzu and Tesra," Grimmjow chuckled.

Ichigo blinked, realizing his mate was right. Not even his father was getting up in arms over Yuzu and Tesra. Granted, Tesra was not nearly as dominate as Yylfordt was and perhaps, having laid an egg and now in the process of raising a cub, Tesra was just less threatening. Less… male and considerably more 'human' than the rest of the Arrancar. Hell, Tesra was even the most human looking of them all, his mask fragment looking like nothing more than a necklace around his forehead.

"So, what do you think about Harribel and her former pack?" Grimmjow questioned curiously.

"They certainly make things more lively around here, and it is good to see Nel again. Harribel herself is rather quiet. It's nice to have the extra patrols and hands to get this place rebuilt, and keep an eye on the little terrors. After all, we agreed to start accepting others by next week and having a place for them to live will help. Szayel even managed to get his old lab up and running enough to start mass producing that synthetic food so we won't need to hunt."

"At least Yuzu and Tesra actually managed to make that shit taste good. That is definitely one plus over Aizen's reign. Not to mention, coffee." Grimmjow damn near purred the last word.

Yuzu had commented that the Arrancar food Szayel created was a lot like Tofu, and thus prepared it in a similar manner. While the hollows didn't get nutritional value from the rest of the food, it did give their diet some verity. They still hunted on occasion, but they had to be careful not to exhaust their food supplies.

They spoke for a little while longer before sleep pulled them both down. Grimmjow was going to start taking a patrol soon, even though as one of the Alpha Pair he didn't need to. Honestly, Ichigo was certain that Grimmjow only wanted to patrol so that he could get some fresh meat after, hopefully, finding a fight. As much as such a thing upset him since Grimmjow's prey tended to be intelligent creatures, he wouldn't ask a hollow not to hunt another non pack mate hollow no more than he would ask a cat not to eat a mouse.

(TIME)

Ichigo let out a yawn and stretched carefully, mindful of the others curled up around him, mainly his mate and the egg nestled against him. In addition, there were at least four cubs scattered about the nest. A groan pulled his attention towards the source of disturbance that had awoken him. Glancing over his shoulder he caught sight of a pool of tan skin and powder blue hair. Grimmjow was apparently already awake and looking over towards the nest that Szayel had claimed, even though they couldn't see it through the screen they had set up for a bit of privacy. While Grimmjow may not mind romping with him in front of everyone, Ichigo still had a sense of decency, and having raunchy sex in front of Szayel, let alone the cubs was not something he wanted to do.

"Are you all right Szayel?" Ichigo called softly, mindful of the cubs, particularly the triplets, spread out around him still sleeping soundly.

"Mama is not feeling well," Hijastro answered for Szayel, concern thick in her voice. "He's really hot and wet," she added.

Cacchoro was up and around the screen before either adult could even attempt to detangle themselves from the tangle of blankets, pillows, cubs and egg. The triplets made noises of protest as they were shooed away, although the protest turned quickly to excitement when they realized something was going on. Ichigo curled up around the egg to protect it from stray limbs as everyone scrambled about, thus making Grimmjow the first one up.

The ex-Espada wasted no time shoving the screen aside and making it to Szayel's side. Szayel was laying on his side, groaning softly in distress. It had only been three days since Ichigo had laid. Szayel was still a week away from laying his egg so it was unlikely that the Arrancar was in labour.

"How are you feeling Szayel?" Ichigo asked concerned, the only thing keeping him in place was his own egg.

"He's got a pretty high temperature," Grimmjow announced worriedly, the back of his hand resting against Szayel's forehead.

"Damn," Ichigo cursed. "Switch you," Ichigo ordered more than offered.

Grimmjow and Ichigo switched task, Grimmjow curling up protectively around the egg, gathering up the triplets as he did so to keep them out of the way. Cachorro and Hijastro kept out of the way themselves, even if they were both rocking back and forth an making crooning noises in worry. Ichigo rested his own hand against Szayel's forehead, frowning at how hot it was. Sweat was starting to poor down Szayel's body as well, soaking the sheets.

"Szayel?" Ichigo called urgently.

Golden eyes looked up at him, but they didn't focus on him at all. They remained completely unseeing and glazed over, the pupils fully dilated. In fact, they were so dilated that there was very little gold left.

"I need to get him to the medical ward and see if I can't find out what's wrong with him. Watch the cubs," Ichigo ordered as he picked the pink haired, former Espada up bridal style and made his way out of the room, racing towards the nearby medical ward as fast as he dared. Hijastro made a noise of distress, but the older cubs didn't try to follow him.

Szayel moaned and tossed his head back and forth, letting out little whimpers as they raced through the halls. Ichigo got him onto one of the beds and quickly began to examine his patient. Szayel was sweating damn near buckets of water and seemed to be in the midst of some sort of fevered nightmare. No amount of calling his patient's name elicited a response. As much as Ichigo didn't want to do it, he slipped Szayel's wrist into the soft restraints so he wouldn't hurt himself in his mild thrashing, be it with a stray limb or from falling out of the bed.

"Szayel, can you hear me?" Ichigo asked, frowning unhappily at the temperature reading and the elevated heart rate as the equipment gave him their readings.

Szayel still didn't answer and seemed to be mumbling and whimpering slightly in delirium. Fortunately, Szayel wasn't trashing too much, at least now yet, so it wasn't too difficult to get a blood draw from him nor to get the IV's in. Ichigo didn't know what was wrong with him, but he was going to bet that Sazyel had managed to pick up a virus or bug thanks to his weakened, pregnant condition. Simple antiviral and antibacterial solutions were added to the IV, as well as a sedative. The last definitely seemed to work and Szayel seemed to fall into a relatively peaceful slumber, at least the soft whimpering and squirming stopped.

"Need any help Ichi-nii?" Karin asked, taking him by surprise.

"Karin, what are you doing up so late?" he asked surprised.

"Yylfordt had to switch off his patrol, so I walked out to the parameter with him and saw you come in here," she answered with a shrug. "So do you want any help?" she asked again.

"Yeah, he has got a high fever. Can you see what you can do to get it down and watch him for a bit while I run his blood work," he asked.

"Yeah, no problem," Karin agreed easily, getting a bowel and filling it up with some water before grabbing a cloth and setting to work wiping the sweat away.

Ichigo retreated to the more secured part of the lab where most of the sensitive drugs and equipment was kept to keep them away from curious cubs or intruders. He set everything up with practiced ease and set about running the test. If he was to guess, he suspected that Szayel had picked up a case of the flu. He would know soon enough, once the tests were done.

Sitting in one of the chairs, he waited impatiently, staring at the red light and listening to the hum of the equipment as it worked away. Szayel had been perfectly healthy when they had gone to bed, at least Ichigo thought the scientist had been healthy. Granted, weakened as he was with his pregnancy, it shouldn't be too big of a surprise he had caught something.

'_Except this is Szayel we are talking about. He has probably vaccinated himself against things not ever the highest grade labs have discovered yet. Of course, all the high end medical research in the world still hasn__'__t managed to prevent the sniffles or allergies,__'_ Ichigo thought mildly amused. There would defiantly be something amusing about Szayel being taken down by the simple flu.

It took at least half an hour for the light to finally turn green, indicating the test was done, and he moved over to the printer where the results were already coming out. Whatever ailed Szayel, it wasn't in the computer system, which ruled out more ailments than the human dictionary on ailments had listed. That meant there was a good chance that the problem was either reiatsu based or parasitic in nature. A parasite would make more sense and would explain how it snuck past all of Szayel's impressive defences.

Mentally going over the next set of tests he would need to do to determine which, if any, parasites Szayel might have picked up, Ichigo returned to the main room.

"Well, his blood is clear of anything," he announced, eyes rising from the paper containing the blood work results in his hand to note the room was empty with no signs of either Karin or Szayel, save for a folded piece of paper on the bed.

"He had better not have woken up and convinced her let him go back to the den," Ichigo sighed in annoyance, picking up the note and barely catching the two objects that came tumbling out of the folded parchment.

(POV)

Grimmjow leaped to his feet as the as the alarm suddenly roared to life, damn near giving him a heart attack and sending the cubs that had been curled up around him rolling away. He at least had enough sense to watch the egg and not crush it in the mad scramble.

"Stay here. Cachorro, watch your siblings, and the egg," he ordered as he grabbed Pantera off the weapon's rack and raced out of the room, making sure to secure the door behind him.

Cachorro and Hijastro were already bringing the triplets into line, herding them next to their unhatched sibling and burrowing under the blankets and pillows of the nest to hide. In the hallway the few others who had been sleeping were also coming out of their rooms, adjusting clothing and weapons at hand.

"Tesra, watch the cubs," he ordered.

Tesra nodded his head and gathered up his own son before making his way to the Alpha Pair's room, punching in the code to let himself in. He caught sight of Harribel dropping off the last of the cubs for safe keeping just before he rounded the corner and launched into a Sonido. The room he shared with Ichigo was one of the most secure in the entire palace, and was thus the safest place. They had established almost immediately that if there was every any danger to the den, the cubs would be gathered there.

He was the first to make it to the lab, followed quickly by Harribel. Ichigo was looking like he was holding onto his sanity by the barest thread, which was odd for his Mate. He was expecting a pissed off Ichigo, not one on the edge of a break down. A glance around showed no sign of Szayel.

"What is going on?" Harribel was the first to speak, her voice and even her reiatsu calm.

Wordlessly, Ichigo held out a single piece of paper, which Harribel took. Grimmjow only had eyes for what Ichigo hadn't handed over, two locks of hair. One was bright pink, the other black.

"He took them," Ichigo's whispered. "The son of a bitch took my sister," he growled.

Grimmjow didn't need to read the note to know who it came from. They had been looking for the snake, and it would seem that the snake had found them, slithering in past all of their defences with far too much ease before slithering out again with two hostages. How the hell had the creep managed it?

The others started to file in and Grimmjow sent them out in a sweeping pattern to search the city. He doubted they would find anything, but it definitely didn't hurt to look. Maybe they would get lucky and find a trail, something perhaps one of the prisoners might have been able to leave. When the last person to report in caught sight of the locks of Karin and Szayel's hair in Ichigo's hand, he stiffened before letting his own Reiatsu flare.

"Karin?" Yylfordt questioned, his voice croaking. "Szayel?"

"Both taken," Grimmjow answered honestly.

Heat burned in Yylfordt's eyes and his hands clenched. Without another word, the blond haired Arrancar spun around and marched out of the room, rage radiating in his very posture. The two estranged brothers had slowly been getting closer over the last few days, no doubt thanks to Karin's influence.

"Ichigo," Grimmjow called softly once they were alone.

Ichigo looked up at him, depression still deep in his eyes, but a glimmer of fire was starting to burn. Brown was quickly turning to gold and white to black. His reiatsu was swelling and getting dark while doing so. Kurostuchi had better have found one hell of a deep hole to hide in, because when Ichigo caught up to the bastard, there wouldn't be enough for a hollow flea to eat, assuming Yylfordt didn't find him first.

Not knowing the alarm system as well as the Arrancar, it had taken longer for Jushiro to arrive, the older Shinigami the only one currently stationed here tonight. Grimmjow briefly considered accusing Jushiro in assisting with the kidnapping, after all the man was a Shinigami, but he forced such a foolish notion aside. Had Jushiro been a hollow, Grimmjow would not have been surprised to see him end up a Natural Beta as well, especially considering the man's extreme love and patience for cubs.

"Guard the cubs with Tesra, Ukitake-san. We are going hunting," Ichigo ordered darkly, his voice resonating strongly with H'tsu's influence.

"Ichigo-kun, perhaps you should take a deep breath first," Jushiro spoke up, not moving.

The look Ichigo sent the Shinigami made Grimmjow shiver, as did the wave of oppressive reiatsu. Jushiro didn't even flinch in the slightest. Scratch that, maybe the Shinigami would have been a very powerful Alpha, one with an entire pack of content Betas to give him lots of cubs.

"Ichigo, what happened?" Jushiro asked softly, never breaking eye contact.

"The fucker took my sister," Ichigo snarled.

Shock crossed Jushiro's face and he finally loosened his defensive stance to adopt one of contained anger. Jushiro didn't need to ask 'whom' it was that had taken Karin. There was only one person that would dare.

"Let me call in others to help search, Abarai-fukutaicho and Rukia of course. I would like to call in Soi Fon-taichou as well if you don't mind. If anyone could figure out what happened here and track Kurotsuchi, it would be her. Kisuke too," Jushiro offered.

Ichigo looked like he was about to say no, but he suddenly paused. Closing his eyes, Ichigo took a deep breath and some of the strain ran out of his body. When the Alpha opened his eyes again, they were still gold on black, but they seemed more focused and less feral.

"Okay," Ichigo agreed. "It would make me feel better if you would watch the cubs for us."

"I will," Jushiro promised, hands digging into his clothing to pull out one of those strange cell phone like devices the Shinigami used while leaving to do as requested.

Although he would never admit it, it made Grimmjow feel better as well to know that someone as powerful as Jushiro was watching over the cubs. Tesra was loyal, but not as strong as someone like Kurotsuchi. Granted, with Szayel due to lay so soon, Kurotsuchi might be inclined to ignore the other cubs as he would have access to the first stage of cub hood within a week and could observe the whole process.

'_Assuming the painted bastard lasts a week,__'_Grimmjow growled mentally.

There was one thing that was still bothering him as he helped a rather furious Ichigo search the room for any clues as to what happened; how the hell had the bastard managed to sneak past them all and get out with two prisoners, let alone know exactly where Szayel was and that he was currently incapacitated?

* * *

><p>No time, got to run. Enjoy. Thanks for the reviews.<p> 


	58. Prisoners

Caged

The only person that could be more pissed than a Kurosaki, was, well, Karin honestly couldn't think of anyone, not even Grimmjow. Never mind the fact that as the Beta, Grimmjow would take Ichigo's name, thus making him a Kurosaki, but since everyone valued their property, not to mention their lives, the subject was never brought up. Either way, Karin was pissed, beyond pissed. Completely furious was a more apt description as to what she was feeling right now. The face painted bastard had come up behind her from nowhere and jabbed a needle in her neck. The prick was the only warning she had received that she was under attack, and whatever had been in the injection had her unconscious before she even began to fall.

'_Fucker better not have injected me with something other than a sedative,__'_ she growled as she paced the small cage she was locked in, and it was small. It only took three, small steps to get across it.

In another cage nearby, Szayel was laying on the floor unconscious. He was still sweating and whimpering, but there was nothing she could do about it, not while she was in a cage herself that appeared to be made out of welded steel. They were not close enough to be able to touch even had he been awake and both of them stretched out their arms. As such, she could only gage his condition visually. He seemed better than when she had caught up with Ichigo in the medical ward, but not by much.

So far there had been no sign of their captor, not that she needed to see who it was. She had a pretty damn good guess at who it was. The room itself was bare other than the two cages, although she did spot a camera in one corner pointed at their cells, a red light blinking. What light was in the room came from under the door, but her eyes had adjusted enough already that she could see the small room just fine.

"Szayel," she called, hoping to get an answer this time for she had been calling for him since waking up some time ago. She was once again disappointed.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, she forced herself to sit down and lean against the wall side of her cage, ignoring how the steel bars dug into her back.

"I know you can hear me, you bastard. If you let us go now, Ichi-nii and the rest of our pack might not slaughter you," she spoke firmly to the room, feeling a little foolish as she did so.

There was no answer and with another frustrated sigh, Karin settled for glaring at the door, calling out to Szayel every so often to see if he was coherent yet. She didn't recall falling asleep, but the sound of the door opening jerked her awake, and subsequently, to her feet. She crossed her arms and glared at the two shadows that entered the room, the sudden bright light making it difficult for her to see properly at first.

One person was definitely the creepy bastard, maniacal grin on white painted face framed by some messed up head piece. The other one looked like someone from an old samurai flick or something and was wearing an expensive kimono complete with top knot. The second man held himself stiffly, like he had a stick shoved up his ass, while Kurotsuchi was hunched over, as if getting ready to beckon her closer to the bars for a petting.

Karin's attention was so riveted on the two men that she hadn't even realized that Szayel had stopped his feverish whimpers while she'd been asleep until the sound of his voice broke the tense silence.

"If you let us go, the rest of our pack, especially Ichigo, might not kill you," Szayel said hoarsely, unknowing echoing Karin's earlier comment.

"This time, they will not be able to find you," Kurotsuchi snorted derisively. "You should be laying soon yes? This time they won't have your scent to trace," he laughed with a touch of insanity.

Oh yeah, her brother really know how to find them. Or maybe she should blame her father, he was the start of it all after all, being an ex Shinigami taichou himself. No, she supposed, the real one to blame was Urahara. He was the idiot that let this psycho free in the first place.

'_I swear, when we get out of here, I had better get a discount at his store for the rest of my life,__'_she couldn't help but to think derisively. _'__Free sounds about right for putting up with this shit.__'_

"You really don't know Ichi-nii that well," Karin scoffed. "He is going to find us, and than he is going to fuck you up so badly there won't even be any cells left to find, let alone regenerate," she hissed angrily.

Anger was good, anger kept her strong. If she lost her grip on her anger she was going to be beyond terrified, as in a cowering, jabbering, shivering mess terrified. Yylfordt had told her many of the things Kurotsuchi had done to him, and the thought of those same things being done to her was enough to make her bones freeze in horror. Hell, he would probably make her watch while he did half of those things to Szayel.

'_Breath, just breath and stay angry. Ichi-nii and the others will come for us,__'_she chanted in her mind, all the while trying to remain in a pissed off pose. _'__Bastards like this feed on fear. Don__'__t feed them,__'_she added.

"I would watch your tongue, girl," Kurotsuchi hissed at her. "You cost me my lab and my job!" he shrieked at her. "When I am done with you, not even your cells will be recognizable." Kurotsuchi suddenly smirked. "Maybe, I'll return you to specimen A15 when I am done with you," he laughed. "Almost a pity he wasn't there. So many unfinished test," Kurotsuchi shook his head sadly. "I wonder how much his behavioural pattern has changed. He never traded anything for favours before, but I can't help but to wonder if he would do so for you," Kurotsuchi mussed.

Karin felt her throat go dry, recalling the subordinate she had killed, the one Yylfordt had informed her had traded things for sexual favours. The same one that had come close to raping Szayel before she had arrived and jabbed her katana through his back. Her eyes darted fearfully towards the other, unnamed male.

"What about you Szayel Aporro Grantz? I know you will do almost anything for the sake of your cubs, but how far would you go for your worthless, brother's mate?" Kurotsuchi crooned.

Szayel didn't answer, just glared silently at the mocking madman.

"Well, we have plenty of time to eventually find out."

"Enough gloating. Just kill the useless human brat and lets get on with the real reason we are here," unknown, uppity, stick up his ass, male number 1 growled.

Kurotsuchi's face turned into a scowl.

"She is not human, but rather, something interesting. Besides, we will need two viable specimens if we are to bred those special guards you want."

Karin felt another spike of ice pierce her heart at the very thought of being forced to bear children for this deranged lunatic to take. It was insane, and there was no way in any hell that she would sleep with Szayel. The very thought made her shudder. Not that he was bad looking, per say, but 1) she was definitely not ready to have sex, 2) he was sooo not her type, and 3) that would be a betrayal of the man she had developed a meaningful relationship with. She was a one man kind of girl.

"I would sooner die than mate with my Alpha's sister without both his permission, and her consent," Szayel said firmly. "And she isn't my type," he added afterwards.

"No kidding," she agreed with a mutter.

"And here I thought you claimed to be a scientist, if a rather poor one at that. Even a mere student is obviously more learned than you." Kurotsuchi mocked.

"Artificial insemination," she muttered, catching on quickly, the spike of ice in her heart racing through the rest of her veins to leave her in a state of shock and horror. Without so much as a 'by your leave,' her anger fled and was replaced by the very terror she had desperately been trying to keep at bay.

"But first, of course, we need to make sure our new 'mother' is going to be a suitable candidate, not to mention gather the samples and establish a control," he chuckled.

The needle that was pulled out of his sleeve was large and dangerous looking. Karin scrambled against the back wall as he approached her with a wide, maniacal grin.

"Don't worry, Specimen H1, I assure you that when you wake up, nothing will have been altered. This time," he cackled.

Trapped in the small cage there was no where for her to escape to. He easily got a hold of her and, with a sharp jab, the needle slid into her skin and the fluid pumped into her body. Like in the lab, she was unconscious before she even hit the ground.

When Karin awoke again she found herself laying on the floor of the small cell as if she had never been moved. Other than the heavy feeling of a sedative wearing off, the only other complaint she had was that her stomach felt like it was being pinched. Her eyes were heavy as she forced them open. At first everything was a blur, but her eyes came into focus rather quickly.

The sound of a mettle door clanking shut drew her attention to the cage beside her. It must have been what had awakened her from her drug induced slumber. Laying unconscious on the cage floor, and wearing absolutely nothing that she could see, was Szayel. His own state of undress jerked her further awake and brought about the notice that she was also completely naked with nothing more than a small bandage taped to her stomach. She curled up the best she could to cover her nudity, earning a chuckled from the creature in the room.

"No need to be shy, Specimen H1. You have nothing I haven't already _explored,_" he purred the last word, "on millions of others," Kurotsuchi chuckled. "Although, I must say, you are in good health, and definitely suitable for my needs. Your uterus is fully functional, your eggs look splendid, and you, yourself, are in excellent health, clear of any infections or other such imperfections," he announced pleased. "And good birthing hips as well," he added as an after thought, throwing in a chuckle for good measure.

Karin shivered, and more fear raced through her as the thought that he might have already impregnated her while she was unconscious raced through her mind. She felt the beginnings of a panic attack, one that was interrupted before it could go too far.

"You're not pregnant, not yet," came a slurred voice from beside her.

Her eyes darted around to meet drug glazed gold before she recalled her current nudity, and his, and quickly tried to curl up closer to the wall while averting her gaze. Kurotsuchi sneered at Szayel, clearly displeased his game was over before it could really begin.

"She will be soon enough, now that I have secured samples from the both of you. As soon as I have viable embryos they will be implanted within her. Giving what I know of the fertility rate of hollows, I predict that several of the eggs we harvested today will be successfully fertilized once I introduce you own ejaculation. Perhaps even all of them will be viable," he laughed manically. "I could impregnate you both at the same time," he chuckled. "Of course, you lack a conventional womb, but I am sure we can work around that."

"Without a ritual of domination to activate the DNA and reiatsu infused 'semen' you have collected from me, you won't be able to fertilize anything," Szayel scoffed, his voice slowly gaining strength.

"A simple thing to reproduce," Kurotuchi snorted, waving his hand dismissively.

Karin wasn't able to follow the conversation after that as the two started in on technical scientific speech that barely covered what was truly a pathetic round of name calling and insults. Really, the two were acting like children, even if the words they used would make most people with their doctorates cross their eyes in confusion. Karin felt herself calm down a bit as the attention was taken off of her, but only a bit. She was still naked, she was still trapped in a cage, and the mad man holding her still desired to impregnate her, and soon by the sound of it.

'_Rescue had better come quick,__'_she thought desperately.

"As amusing as it is bantering with an inferior mind such as you have, Specimen, I have results to input and verify. If I were you, I would get what rest I could, for I have so many more interest things to test for." With that proclamation, Kurotsuchi whirled about and strutted from the room, his cloak bellowing out behind him. Shortly after the door closed behind him, the lights went out leaving them in complete darkness, for even the hall light seemed to be turned off.

For a moment there was nothing but silence in the room, other than the sound of their breathing.

"What is he going to do to me?" she finally asked, more to break the imposing silence than wanting to really know.

Szayel didn't answer right away, but eventually he started giving her a run down on what it would take to artificially impregnate her, including how he would artificially stimulate the eggs and semen sample to make them viable. She shivered and curled up more, clutching her knees to her chest. She didn't understand everything he said, maybe ten percent of it, but she comprehended enough to have a general idea on what the procedures would require and would do to her.

While she appreciated the fact that her brother's Arrancar didn't treat her like a child and were frank with her, even over issues that would send her father into massive seizures, this was one time she almost wished Szayel had sugar-coated it. The image he was painting was going to give her nightmares for a very long time, possibly even out doing the ones she'd been having of killing.

Eventually silence settled between them and Karin slowly became more aware of how cold the room was. She didn't think they were in Hueco Mundo anymore. That realm was always comfortable and the temperature didn't really change much. There was also the unknown man with the outdated wardrobe, which to her, suggested they were in Soul Society.

"You seem to be feeling better," she noted, unable to take the oppressive, dark silence anymore, and too terrified to risk falling asleep.

"Yes, no doubt my ailment was caused by a dormant virus that was activated when he wanted to make his move. I will admit it was a clever plan," Szayel confessed grudgingly. "I plan on looking for it when I get back to my lab."

Silence settled between them again, and it unnerved her ever more. She didn't like it in the least. It was like the darkness had an actual, oppressive weight to it that was smothering her. Almost like her nightmares were right there in front of her and she couldn't tell if she was awake or dreaming.

"Since we don't really have much to talk about, and I don't need to worry about Ichi-nii or goat face walking in on us; what does my brother and father truly think about my relationship with Yylfordt?" she questioned hesitantly, desperate to break the silence and honestly curious about what he would have to say about it. He was a very observant person after all.

She heard Szayel let out a soft sigh before he answered.

"Your brother is weary of it, but willing to support it if that is what you want. Your father…. is your father," Szayel settled for.

Despite their situation, Karin couldn't help but to chuckle, knowing exactly what Szayel meant. No man would ever be good enough for either her or her sister in her father's eyes.

"Your father and brother are right to be concerned. Hollows are not known for their loving characteristics and, until recently, your father was really only introduced to the aggressive, more base creature of our kind. Being turned into Arrancar seems to have returned a large number of the emotions that we had lost, including what I would reluctantly classify as love.

"It's almost like having woken up from a very long coma where you dreamed you were alive and moving, but nothing really registered. Now, we need to relearn the entire spectrum of our emotions, outside of anger and hunger. Granted, in my case, I had retained all of my mortal memories and, as such, retained a larger collection of emotions, such as curiosity."

Karin gave a 'hmmm' of agreement.

Silence settled around them once more, but this time it was somewhat comfortable. When the door opened she jerked in fear, the room remaining completely dark. She scanned the darkness the best she could, but other than the red light from the camera, no doubt an infer red one, there was nothing.

"Szayel," she called over wordily, her voice unwittingly cracking with fear. His night vision was infinitely better than hers thanks to his self modifications, but it was so dark in here she wondered if even he could see.

"I am fine," he assured her. "We are being fed."

The sound of something being set down in her cage reached her ears, and shortly after the door closed with a clang. She didn't move, intently listening to the darkness for proof that the intruder had actually left. The only noise in the room was that of her and Szayel's breathing.

"Don't eat it," Szayel ordered rather sharply.

"I didn't plan to," she assured him.

"Good," he sighed.

If their food was not drugged, she would be shocked. Once again she hoped Ichigo wouldn't take too long in getting here. She could only go so long without eating, and had no doubt they would force feed her if she refused for too long. The longer she didn't eat, the weaker she would get and the easier to subdue her it would be. Drugs or starvation, one or the other would ultimately weaken her to the point they could manhandle her. She doubted they would let her starve herself for too long.

The darkness was getting oppressive and heavy again, granted, it was also welcomed as it was easier to forget that they were both completely naked. It made her shiver to think that whoever was watching them on the camera could be jacking off to their images and she firmly put that thought out of her mind. More than likely anyone watching the camera would be bored out of their minds and half asleep.

"Try to sleep," Szayel ordered, causing her to jerk in surprise.

"Shouldn't we remain alert in case they come for us while we are sleeping?" She questioned.

"I'll stay awake first. You sleep," he ordered.

Since he was higher than her in the pack, she decided not to argue. Besides, sleep was sounding like a good idea right now. Karin curled up the best she could in her cage and attempted to get some rest. She had a feeling she was going to need it. Oddly enough, she didn't have that hard of a time falling asleep. Sedatives did tend to take a while to work completely out of the system.

(POV)

Loss was not something he was use to feeling, at least, not to this level where it felt like his heart was being torn out, and never mind there was already a hole where his physical heart should have been. If this was an inkling of what he felt when he had lost his human cub, Yylfordt could easily understand how he had become a hollow. It damn near felt like he was becoming one again.

Perhaps, in many ways, this situation was even worse. Unlike with his daughter during their mortal life, he knew Kurotsuchi and was well aware of what the despicable, now ex shinigami was capable of. He knew what Karin faced, and the very thought of her undergoing even a fraction of the tests that had been run on him left his blood chilled. Kurotsuchi did not believe in wasting resources such as sedatives, hell, more often than not he didn't even use something as simple as a painkillers. He swore Kurotsuchi took great pleasure in listening to the screams of his victims.

That was one thing Yylfordt could say about his brother, or at least his 'old' brother. Szayel had used sedatives and painkillers on his victims, preferring to leave them as relaxed as could be most of the time. Something about stress corrupting the data and diminishing the usefulness of a specimen. He had been a very professional scientist, if not prone to stagecraft as all of them seemed to be.

Yylfordt continued to pace about the large complex, searching for any hint of a clue as to what had happened to his brother and hopefully, future mate. He honestly wasn't expecting to find much of anything, Kurotsuchi was a very crafty bastard after all, but one never knew. Luck was just as important on the hunt as skill was. Luck was what they were going to need. Szayel was too far along now for them to use scent to find him before he laid.

He almost missed it, nearly walked right by it, and would have had a draft not caused it to stir. He froze, eyes darting towards the slim movement. He held his breath and waited. Another small, draft of wind caused the object to move again and he lunged for it, but wisely didn't touch it. It was a single strand of black hair seemingly imbedded in the wall. For a brief moment, he felt hope flare before tampering it. There was no proof yet that the hair was Karin's, and the trail could go cold just as fast as it was found. Still, it was better than nothing.

* * *

><p>Thanks for the reviews. I hope you enjoyed the tension in this Chapter. As usual, no clue when the next Chapter will be ready. I really want to wrap this fict up though and with POV 2 a good distance ahead, I might have a smidgen more time to focus on finishing this one up.<p> 


	59. Blood Splatter

Blood Splatter

"Well, we shouldn't be surprised that there are corridors that we didn't know about," Kisuke noted as he explored the concealed doorway Yylfordt had found thanks to a single strand of Karin's hair that had been caught in the doorway when it had closed.

"This is taking too long," Ichigo grunted, the young man shifting from foot to foot in agitation.

"Calm down Ichigo," Kisuke sighed. "It would be foolish for us to run headlong into a trap."

"I know," Ichigo growled before taking a deep breath. "I know," he repeated softer. "I am just worried about them. Ever second in that bastards hands…." he trailed off, not wanting to even voice aloud the atrocities that could have been committed against his sister already.

Oddly enough, he was actually not the worse one off. The one pacing back and forth in agitation and barely suppressed emotion was Yylfordt. It wasn't helping him any either watching the blond Arrancar show such displeasure and knowing that the reason was because if it was anyone that understood what might be happening to Karin right now, it was Yylfordt. Other than Kisuke, the only other one on the scene who was oddly calm was Grimmjow. Well, maybe not calm, more like he was on full hunting mode. If he'd been in his resurreccion Ichigo had no doubt that Grimmjow's tail would be madly twitching. There was a stillness to Grimmjow right now, just like a predator stalking its prey.

"The doorway looks secure. I do not believe that the hair was left as a means to lure us into a trap," Kisuke announced as he stood up.

"Good," Ichigo declared, marching determinedly down the secret passage, Yylfordt close behind him.

Kisuke let out a sigh and followed behind them with the stalking predator brining up the rear. The passageway was rather long and dusty. There were clear footprints in the dirt and what looked like at least one set of drag marks. Judging by the four strands of pink hair they found interspaced on the floor, it was Szayel that had been dragged. The trail abruptly ended at a crossing, one that reminded Ichigo of the room where he had split from his friends during their mission to rescue Orihime.

"Fuck," Grimmjow growled as they stared at where the dust trail simply ended.

"Kisuke, can you tell which realm they went to?" Ichigo asked.

"I need some equipment, but I should be able to determine where the portal went. It's going to take a little bit of time though," Kisuke warned.

"How much time?" Grimmjow questioned.

"Several hours, longer if he took the time to scramble the energy signature. If he didn't, I may be able to determine where the portal came out, possibly to the exact location" he announced cheerfully. "Let's go back and get my equipment. I warn you, it's heavy and I am going to need a lot of it. You all don't mind helping me pack it right?" Kisuke asked innocently.

"How much equipment are we talking here?" Ichigo questioned suspiciously. It wasn't that he didn't want to rescue his pack mates, but rather that he knew Kisuke too well. His apprehension rose when Kisuke pulled out his fan to hide behind.

(POV)

Perhaps he should thank the painted freak when they finally tracked the bastard down, just before turning him into a bloody pulp of course. Nothing was more sexier than his mate when he was hunting; his power barely contained and his reiatsu violently caressing everything around him. Fucking hell Ichigo was hot when he was determined. Maybe he would even kill Kurotsuchi quickly as a way to thank him for getting Ichigo all riled up like this, assuming Yylfordt didn't beat him to it. The sooner they rescued the others, and made sure his up coming cub and pack mates were fine, the sooner he could drag Ichigo into their nest and they could fuck away all of the tension with hours of demanding, needy sex.

Of course he wanted to find the missing pack mates as well, after all Szayel was carrying his cub, but with one back in the nest just waiting to hatch, his instincts were less worried about the missing one and more concerned with making sure the current one had a fighting chance. True it was currently being guarded by several powerful allies, including Ichigo's human friends, having dropped all living world obligations and rushed here as soon as they had found out what had happened, but it was still his cub and he was still not that accustom to relying on outsiders for help and nothing screamed outsider more than Shinigami. Only one percent, if that, of hollow cubs ever survived the few months, let alone reached adulthood. The fact this pack had so many thriving cubs had to be some sort of major record, and all of them looked like they were going to reach adulthood! If you don't count the two H'tsu forced Szayel to miscarry, as the Arrancar wasn't part of the pack at the time, they had a 100% success rate, and that was unheard of. No wonder so many of the surviving Arrancar where sniffing around their borders. A pack with such a high success rate was definitely worth trying to work your way into.

The cubs loved and adored Jushiro, and the same could be said in reverse for the white haired Taichou. While he may not trust the others as much, he did trust Jushiro and knew that if something bad were to happen, Jushiro would defend the cubs with his life. The fact the man also had a pack worth of siblings to care for, and did so, may have helped a bit as well. Anyone who could raise and care for that many cubs was damn near trustworthy. If Jushiro had been a hollow, he probably would have been a Natural Beta.

'_I wonder what would happen if two Natural Beta__'__s were to breed,__'_he couldn't help but to ponder, trying to imagine what kind of cubs Jushiro and Szayel would produce before shaking the thought away. He doubted Jushiro would be interested and the man had enough cubs to care for already. It was surprising Jushiro was even still here caring for their cubs when he had his own to raise, granted most of them were older and there was something about the man's mother still being around.

Kisuke finally led them to the room where all of the equipment they would need to determine where the portal led was being stored. His eyes widened at the sight of it all, shortly before wondering why such equipment was already here. Perhaps Szayel and Kisuke had made it after the last time Kurotuschi had dared attack them.

"You have got to be shitting me?" Ichigo cursed, and he vocally agreed with his mate.

This was a hell of a lot of equipment, and it looked heavy as hell.

"Well, you do want to know where the portal leads don't you?" Kisuke asked.

"Stop shitting around Kisuke, this is my sister we are talking about," Ichigo snarled, grabbing the striped hat freak by the front of his clothing and pulling them face to face. "She is being held by the same bastard YOU let out in the first place. I only have an _idea_ of the atrocities Kurotsuchi can commit, and that is enough to give me nightmares. Even H'tsu isn't as twisted."

"You don't want to know," Yylfrodt snarled, back to pacing in agitation now that they had stopped moving.

Kisuke adopted a serious expression on his face and gave a nod of his head.

"Yes, you are right," Kisuke relented. "However, we do need this equipment if I am to determine where the portal leads."

They eyed it doubtfully. It was going to take time to get this stuff back to where the portal was, and every delay gave Kurotsuchi that much more time to experiment on his captives.

"Don't worry about this stuff, I know where the portal went," a new voice entered the conversation.

Leaning against the doorframe with a wide smirk on her face was Yoruichi.

"So, who wants to break some stuff?" she asked with an even wider grin.

He couldn't help but to match it and crack his knuckles. Yylfordt finally stopped pacing and sent the woman a look that promised a world of hurt for those she was about to lead them to. Busting the shit out of Shinigami, oh yeah, they lived for that kind of stuff. Judging by the look on Ichigo's face, his mate was just as ready to shed some blood as well, and giving Ichigo's rather passive nature, that was truly saying something.

(POV)

The fact that Yoruichi brought them to Soul Society didn't surprise anyone, what did surprise them was being met by a serious face Soi Fon as well as Shunsui. Ichigo was honestly not expecting that much help out of his Shinigami allies, and his first thought was that they were here to stop them, not help them. After all, he was knowingly bringing two completely free and armed Arrancar into their city. Shinigami and Hollows did not historically get along.

"Ichigo-kun," Shunsui greeted him warmly. "I hope you don't mind us tagging along, but it would seem that the 2nd division has discovered something rather displeasing. I'll let Soi Fon tell you what she knows," he nodded his head at his college.

Soi Fon looked a little put out about having to share her information with them, but she did grudgingly start talking.

"We have been investigating, for some time actually, the rumours that certain Noble Clans have been looking into using Hollows as guard dogs and foot soldiers. Of course, the Noble Clans are generally not a group of people you want to cross and, in all honesty, the Gotie 13 really doesn't have much jurisdiction over them. However, we do have a vested interest in Hollows and their behaviour, so if any clans were looking into it, we have the right to investigate.

"Recently Akon, a member of the 12th division, sought console with the Soutaichou after Kurotsuchi went missing. The contents of that meeting are classified, but I have been informed I can tell you that Kurotsuchi has been trading his research for funding with several noble clans."

"I don't care about this shit. Do you know where Szayel and Karin are or not?" Grimmjow growled in annoyance, a growl Yylfordt mimicked.

Soi Fon sent him a look ok anger at being interrupted, but continued on after a moment.

"We believe they are being held at the estate of one of Kurotsuchi's more predominate financial backers. Yourichi-sama managed to sneak in," Soi Fon beamed happily at the woman leaning casually against a tree with her feet and arms crossed, "and managed to catch sight of several smaller Adjucus being used as guard dogs in the lower levels."

Shunsui took over the briefing, calling their attention his way.

"The information is enough to warrant a raid. We were not going to involve you at all, but an Adjucus is not something anyone below a Fukutaichou should tangle with. However, if too many Taichou head out on a mission it's going to raise alarm bells. There are a lot of innocent servants living and working here, so try to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. A small, but powerful, attack force should be sufficient to get in, subdue our targets, and secure the area for the rest of the 2nd division to come in and do their job."

"Sounds simple enough," Grimmjow snorted. "Assuming Kurosaki can keep a lid on his power," he smirked at his mate.

"I am not the one who tends to endanger others with their attacks," Ichigo snorted, recalling all too well Grimmjow's lack of concern during their last true battle when one of the Arrancar's attacks had gone straight towards Nel and Orihime.

Yylfordt remained silent, shifting his weight from foot to foot with one hand resting on the hilt of his Zanpakuto.

"You shouldn't come across too much opposition," Shunsui continued. "We will deal with the Nobles in question, we want you to try and find Szayel and Karin, if they are here. Finding them is key to this operation as it will prove this family was knowingly harbouring an Arrancar as well as conducting illegal experimentation. From our understanding, if its anyone that will find them, it's you two," Shunsui nodded towards the two Arrancar.

"If we get close enough than yeah, Szayel's scent will give him away, even if he is behind ten feet of concrete," Grimmjow confirmed.

"We might catch traces of their reiatsu as well. Hollows are more sensitive to that kind of thing, we need to be to hunt our food," Yylfordt added.

"Good. Yoruichi-san is going to go with you and lead you to where she last spotted the Adjucus. They are most likely being used to guard the more important facilities. Soi Fon and myself will be going after the head Nobles to secure them. Any questions?" Shunsui asked, giving them a serious look Ichigo had never seen on the laid back man's face before.

None of them had questions. It was pretty simple. Find their pack mates, kill the Adjucus, don't kill the staff if they could avoid it. Yoruichi switched into her feline form and leaped up onto Ichigo's shoulder.

"This way. There is a break in the stone wall out back here. It's small, but you should be able to wiggle through it," she directed, indicating the direction with an outstretched paw.

They followed her direction in silence, moving from shadow to shadow as they made their way along the stone wall. It would have been childs play to jump it, but something along the rim tingled against their senses, some sort of trap or alarm, possibly a combination of the two.

Yourichi was right, the break they found in the wall was small, but with some wiggling, wriggling, and skin scrapping, they managed to make it into the Estate's well manicured gardens. Yoruichi, now on her own four paws, led them carefully across the grounds and towards what looked like nothing more than a storage shed. In fact when they opened it they discovered it was even full of gardening tools that were clearly used regularly. Undeterred, Yoruichi led them to one of the panels and leaped up onto Grimmjow's shoulder this time.

"That knot in the wood, press it," she indicated.

One press later the wall pushed out and slid to the side, revealing a semi dark passageway that was barely wide enough for them to walk down. Ichigo felt the hair on the back of his neck rise, and continue to rise, as they made their way down the narrow stairwell. It didn't stay that way for long and they came out into a sterile, large corridor that reminded him very much of a hospital, or a lab. Yylfrodt shivered and gave his head a shake before closing his eyes and seemingly went about meditating.

"Are there camera's down here?" Ichigo asked concerned.

"Not that I have seen, at least, not in the corridors," Yoruichi answered. "A lot of the technology here is very recently added, no doubt thanks to Kurotsuchi direct involvement with this project. I don't think they have had the time to install them."

"You mean, this place was already here?" Ichigo asked.

"Indeed. I think this family has been trying to tame hollows for a rather long while now. The facility is actually pretty secure and large areas are lined with reiatsu suppressors. I doubt such things will bother you," she smirked at them.

Yeah, they had dealt with such devices before, and in all honesty, such devices were more of a hindrance to the ones they were meant to protect than themselves. Hollows were born to fight and Ichigo had so much practice fighting off street gangs that he had been forced to become a rather strong brawler, and brawling is exactly what they would be doing.

"She's here," Yylfordt suddenly spoke up, seemingly breaking out of his trance.

Ichigo stiffened, his hand gripping the hilt of Zangetsu sharply.

"What about Szayel?" he questioned.

"Hard to tell, but he is drained so it could be due to that as opposed to them hiding his reiatsu so there is not much to trace," Yylfordt answered, drawing his own Zanpakuto and starting down the corridors.

"Why can he find her but you can't?" Ichigo asked Grimmjow as they followed in Yylfordt's wake with Yoruichi taking up the rear.

"I ain't the one imprinting on her to try and get in her pants," Grimmjow answered honestly, and perhaps a bit more bluntly than Ichigo liked.

He spluttered a bit at his mate's answer while Yylfordt had the grace to look somewhat embarrassed, but he couldn't deny the truth of it. Karin and Yylfordt had been spending a lot of time together, more than even he had been spending with his sister. Granted, she had been withdrawn and he had been giving her space.

"_**Sometimes the dame has to move the cubs due to danger. The ability to detect the mother, or Mapa, of your cubs is important in making sure they make it. Did you not find it odd that you can find Grimmjow easily enough despite your pathetic tracking skills?**__**"**_H'tsu questioned.

He honestly hadn't thought that much about it truthfully. He had always been able to find Rukia as well, but he had spent a lot of time with her and considered her one of his closest friends.

"_What does this __'__imprinting__'__ entitle?__"_he questioned suspiciously.

He could have asked Grimmjow, but he loved his Mate and he was worried the answer might upset him enough to throttle his other half. Not something they should be doing right now, even if the makeup sex would totally be worth it.

"_**Cuddling, sharing space, rubbing each others reiatsu and scents together. Of course, fucking is the best way to go about doing it, but they ain**__**'**__**t doing that yet. Blonde values his existence after all. Any hollow would be able to tell that Karin is being courted by a fellow hollow, although they would be confused as to why the hell an Arrancar is courting something so much weaker when he could easily just toss her down and mount her. Courting is usually reserved for when a lower powered being approaches a higher level or when the two are near equal in strength and don**__**'**__**t want to risk death in a confrontation.**__**"**_

Will wonders never cease? H'tsu gave him a straight answer without the taunting. Maybe Zangetsu was finally getting through to him, or maybe having spent the last month bearing all of the weight of Grimmjow's cub taught him some humility.

"_**Fuck off king,**__**"**_ H'tsu grunted in his mind.

Ichigo smirked, unable to hold it back before giving his head a small shake and returning his attention back to the task at hand.

It didn't take too long before they finally meet other people, researchers he guessed based on the universal white lab coats they were wearing. Since they were still on the outskirts of any repression system, the four men were dead before they even realized they had come across intruders. There was, perhaps, a grim satisfaction to Yylfordt's posture as he wiped his blade clean of their blood on their once pristine while lab coats. As much as Ichigo didn't enjoy killing, they couldn't afford to leave live bodies behind them that could sound the alarm. Besides, there was a good chance that these men have commit atrocities he was better off not thinking about.

"_Can you guys detect anything yet?__"_he questioned as they continued to follow Yylfordts lead down the maze of corridors, dispatching those unfortunate enough to come across them.

"**A few years ago I would have found my pet easily, but it****'****s been too long since you let me imprint him,****"**H'tsu answered with a huff.

"_He__'__s not a pet,__"_Ichigo responded automatically. _"__And get over it already,__"_he added.

Grimmjow and Yylfordt suddenly came to a halt, Yoruichi presumably doing the same behind him. His ability at sensing reiatsu still sucked, but H'tsu perked up, and was even kind enough to inform him that they had caught the taste of a hollow's reiatsu in the air, possibly even more.

The approached more cautiously now, and it was Yoruichi, in her cat form still, that took the lead and poked her head around the left side of the T junction in the corridor before glancing briefly right. When she slipped around the corner, the rest of them followed.

"Karin is the other way," Yylfordt protested, hesitating at the T junction and clearly wanting to go the other way.

Ichigo hesitated as well at the news, but only briefly. His reiatsu sensing capabilities may suck, but there were times when it was spot on, and this was one of them. He could feel the vile taste of Kurotsuchi's reiatsu ahead, the direction Yoruichi was trying to lead them.

"They will be safer in their cells," Yoruichi said over her shoulder as she led them towards the door at the end of the corridor, by passing the ones that lined it.

It was from these doors the scent of hollow, drug and blood was coming from. He really didn't want to know what was behind those doors. Even Zangetsu seemed a little leery and H'tsu was silent. However, it wasn't that scent he had latched onto but rather a far more disgusting scent that came to his nose, followed by a voice that set the hairs on the back of his neck up.

Ichigo stormed into the lead, or at least, came even with Yylfordt as the Arrancar also picked up the scent of their prey and the sound of it's voice. Together they kicked the door open, causing those in the room to whirl towards them in shock.

Ichigo was not often one to strike first, nor was he one to show no mercy. Today was different. Today, Zangetsu sliced through the stunned scientist's flesh as if it was made of wet paper, the man not even having time to reach for his own blade to raise in defence. While Zangetsu's blade slice down, nearly cutting the man in half, Yylfordt's blade went in sideways, cutting through Kurotsuhi's side and nearly meeting Zangetsu where his Zanpakuto finally stopped. Blood sprayed out as the heart pumped it last few pumps and sent it arching everywhere.

"Fuck me Ichigo, I didn't think you…" Grimmjow never got the chance to finish for he as interrupted by a roar of rage.

Ichigo felt himself jerked out of his own sudden fury as Yylfordt pulled his blade free and slashed it back into the body with another furious scream. Backing off next to his mate, Ichigo could only watch in stunned shock as Yylfordt continued to scream incoherently and slash at the body, which was quickly turning into an unidentifiable mess of meat, bones, blood and organs. He had never, ever, seen anyone go so insane as the Arrancar was doing now.

Grimmjow just leaned against a wall and watched his former fraccion go insane over the slowly growing pile of mutilated body parts. The other man Yoruichi had apprehend the moment the door had opened, presumably one of the nobles by the quality of his clothing, was white faced and full of shock and terror as he watched the horrific spectacle. H'tsu snorted in his mind, making a humming noise of agreement as they watch Yylfordt work. Blood had coated most of Yylfordt by this point, as well as a decent amount of gore. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Arrancar stopped, but his body was still trembling in emotion.

"Move it," Yoruichi ordered sharply, yet quietly, as she gave her captive a shove.

The man didn't argue, and damn near ran from the room with Yoruichi right behind him. Grimmjow gave a grunt, pushed off from the wall, and followed them out. Ichigo slowly walked towards Yylfordt, making sure that he was within the Arrancar's vision so as not to startle him. It was only once he pulled up beside him that he realized Yylfordt was crying, silent tears streaming down the mans face and making a small, clean trail amongst the wall of red that coated him.

"Yylfordt?" he called softly.

Slowly, the blonde haired (although most of it was stained bright red right now) Arrancar turned to face him, tears still shinning in his eyes and his body trembling. Ichigo ignored the massacred pile of flesh on the floor, stepping over the larger chunks, and closed the last little distance between them. H'tsu was surprisingly soft spoken, directing his actions. Finally up close, he wrapped an arm around his target's shoulder, gently pulling Yylfordt against him, but not tight enough to be restricting, just enough to be comforting.

The body against his continued to tremble as he led Yylfrodt away from the scene, right out of the room. He glanced back once, hardly able to believe what had just happened. He had mentally prepared himself to kill the bastard, he tended to avoid killing if he can avoid it but this was one time that death was warranted. He hadn't hesitated in brining Zangetsu down the man's centre, mindful of the information Ishida had shared with him, information he had learned from Nemu. He hadn't expected Yylfordt to join him in the assault, nor freak out. In retrospect, he should have. Confronted with the man that had tortured and experimented on him, Yylfordt had lost it, going at his tormentor with all of the pent up aggression and hatred of any hollow. Perhaps, not all of it was for revenge for the crimes committed against him.

Grimmjow was ahead of them as they exited the room, already halfway down the corridor towards the other hallway that Yylfordt had claimed Karin was down. Yoruichi was securing her prisoner, moving him towards the T junction, no doubt to meet up with the rest of the 2nd division's strike force.

Once out of the room, Yylfrodt started to calm down, his trembling ceasing as the Arrancar took deep, calming breaths and started to wipe the blood and gore from his face, using it as an excuse to wipe his tears away. Taking a last shuddering breath, Yylfordt pulled away from him, and Ichigo let him. No words were spoken, for what could he really say? Instead, they silently followed Grimmjow to the door that had to hold their missing pack mates.

Yoruichi had disappeared with her prisoner, there was no doubt now that this family was guilty. The moved past the doors that had the reiatsu of hollows coming from behind them, other prisoners no doubt. These felt like lower level hollows, possibly the Adjucus that Yoruichi had originally spotted. They would check on the hollows afterwards, but for now they were evidence of wilful wrong doing.

They finally reached the door that Yylfordt had first zero's on to. Taking the lead, Ichigo forced the door open, ignoring the screeching of the alarm as he easily broke the lock. Stealth was no longer required at this point. Forcing the door open, leaving a chunk with the latch still attached to the wall, they entered the room. His eyes immediately went to the two figures curled up naked in their cells as the light from the hallway fell upon them.

Szayel stirred, looking their way with blurry golden eyes, his movements sluggish and his eyes not focusing. Karin didn't stir at all, causing a clench of fear to twist in his gut as he raced towards the cage.

"She is just drugged," Szayel spoke up, his voice slurred as he tried to sit up properly without much success. "And so am I," he added with a displeased groan.

Ichigo felt some of the fear subside and pulled the top of his uniform off even while Yylfordt forced the door to her cage open. Ichigo gave his sister a quick examination, noting the small incision marks, before covering her up. She didn't stir at all as they moved her. Once wrapped up, Yylfordt held her close, nuzzling her neck and whispering encouragements for her to wake up. Ichigo's first instinct was to take her back, but he paused, noting that tears were once more trickling down the Arrancar's face and that he was shaking. He decided it might be best to leave the two alone, besides, it would be best if one of them remained untangled so they could fend off anyone stupid enough to attack them. Grimmjow was supporting Szayel, the pink haired Arrancar barely able to stand thanks to the drugs pumping through him.

"What have they done to her?" Ichigo demanded.

"I don't know, they have kept us both rather drugged," Szayel answered honestly. "How long has it been?"

"Four days," Grimmjow answered.

Szayel winced, but seemed content to just rest against Grimmjow's side for now. Karin didn't stir, so Yylfordt simply picked her up. Her skin was quickly covered in Kurotsuchi's blood as it soaked through her borrowed clothing, but that was the least of their concerns. The first thing he wanted to do was to get them back home to the den, or failing that, at least to the 4th Division.

Leading the way out, they met no resistance and even passed several shinobi clad members of Soi Fon's task force. The troops let them pass and even directed them towards where Soi Fon and Shunsui were overseeing the operation. It seemed the strike had gone well, but Shunsui did request they bring Szayel and Karin to the 4th for a full examination so Unohana could put a report together for the trial.

Through the entire small debriefing and than escort to the 4th (it was best to have guards just encase some hot head simply saw two hollows and stupidly attacked) Karin didn't stir once, and that worried everyone by Szayel, who was too drugged himself to really do more than shamble along and mutter how bright it was. Hanataro meet them at the entrance to the 4th, word having gone ahead. They were led to where Unohana was waiting for them, and than encountered another problem.

It was easy enough to get Szayel onto a stretcher, in fact the former Espada passed right back out again once they finally got him prone, the long walk having sapped his strength. Yylfordt, on the other hand, was proving a bit more difficult. He was still clutching Karin to his chest, crooning softly and nuzzling at his neck.

"Yylfordt, you have to put her down so Unohana can tend to her," Ichigo ordered for what felt like the hundredth time, and once again it seemed like Yylfordt couldn't hear him. Ichigo let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

"Just leave him. Until he's convinced she is fine the only way you will pry her from his fingers is if he's dead," Grimmjow grunted, sprawled out on a nearby chair where he was out of the way.

"_**You were just as clingy when we rescued Grimmjow,**__**"**_ H'tsu spoke up.

"Yylfordt-san, if you will at least set her down on the stretcher so we can examine her. You do not need to leave her side and you may continue to hold her hand," Unohana smoothly interjected.

Yylfordt looked her way, and suddenly paled before setting Karin down in the stretcher, although he held her hand tightly and sat down beside her. Unohana had been the one to examine all of the Arrancar when they had first rescued them from Kurotsuchi, so there was a bit of trust there. That and Ichigo was damn certain that even the Sotaichou meekly crawled back into bed when she ordered it.

With Yylfordt more or less out of the way, Unohana finally began her examination, one he forced himself not to join in. He checked over Szayel instead. Other than the drugs and several other foreign substances in his body that Ichigo didn't recognize, nothing had really been done to the pink haired Arrancar, no doubt because Kurotsuchi didn't want to risk the pregnancy. Unohana, on the other hand, was taking a lot longer to examine Karin, and that was really starting to bother him.

Finally, after two heart wrenching hours, which Szayel blissfully slept through, Unohana took a step back. Yylfordt had calmed down in that time now that they were safe, standing beside the head of the stretcher and resting one blood soaked hand on Karin's shoulder in silent support.

"Well?" Grimmjow grunted when it appeared the rest of them were too afraid to ask.

"Drugged, as you said Szayel-san had mentioned. It would seem as if he tried to have her impregnated several times, judging by the residue reiatsu traces I can sense, but they failed, no doubt because she is not in her estrous cycle."

Yylfordt paled and Ichigo felt fresh rage flash through him, followed by fear.

"Was she…." he couldn't finish the question.

"No," Unohana answered firmly.

He felt as if a mountain had been lifted from his shoulder.

"He attempted artificial insemination, that's what these small slices are for. In all other retrospect, she is still a virgin."

"Told the idiot it wouldn't work," Szayel slurred, apparently having come to again. "How bad am I?" he asked.

"You are just drugged and injected with shit," Ichigo answered honestly.

"S'good," Szayel murmured, before rolling onto his side and curling up under the blankets, no doubt to get some more sleep.

"Other than being heavily drugged and injected with hollow reiatsu, which her body seems to be absorbing without too much difficulty, she is fine. Nothing a few days rest won't cure. I know you are eager to get her home, but I would like to keep her here for observation for a few days, just to make sure there are no complications with the hollow DNA and reiatsu injections she had been giving. Forgive me Ichigo-san, but such areas are not ones you have studied."

He really wanted to get her home, but Unohana was right. Give him broken bones or any other 'human' aliment and he could take care of it, unfortunately, not even the top universities in the world even _knew_ about Reiatsu and hollows, let alone how to treat things pertaining to them.

"You are right," he sighed. "How long should…."

Once again he never got to finish, only this time it was because Szayel had let out a soft cry of pain and was shivering under his blankets. Everyone, even Yylfordt, jumped and turned their attentions over towards the panting and shivering male.

"Szayel?" Ichigo asked concerned.

"I think I am about to lay," Szayel whimpered.

* * *

><p>This Chapter just would not write itself, and I am still not that pleased with it, but oh well, here it is. I see no sense in making you wait any longer for it, especially with that 5 week hiatus Kubo is going on. Huge hugs to everyone who reviewed. Seeing them always makes my day.<p> 


	60. Recovery

Recovery

Szayel groaned and curled up on the stretcher, eyes darting about the room in a blurry, almost incomprehensive state. The drugs Kurotsuchi, now the late Kurotsuchi, had pumped into him were messing with his perceptions, and that was resulting in a roller coaster ride of emotions. One second Szayel seemed to be with them and would relax ready to lay. The next, something would set him off and he would be convinced he was still back in that dog cage of a cell surrounded by enemies. The later resulted in him hissing at them and trying to stop the act of laying, to prevent his offspring being born in a hostile environment. It was wearing on his already weakened strength.

"Szayel, stop it, you are safe," Grimmjow ordered sharply after twenty minutes of this. "Now just lay my damn cub and get it over with already so we can see it."

Szayel shivered, but the sharp order from his Alpha had his Instincts desperate to obey (something H'tsu was all to pleased to take credit for) and he finally uncurled and let the laying finish, the egg plopping out onto the cot. Grimmjow easily caught it before it could roll off. Panting in exhaustion, Szayel lay down beside it and hugged it protectively to him, his entire body trembling in exhaustion.

Unohana moved in now, once more checking over Szayel's statistics and letting out a soft sigh at the end. Unable to fight the drugs any longer, Szayel was completely comatose and didn't even respond as he was examined.

"He is weak, but I have no doubt he will recover once we get some food into him and the last of the drugs cleared out of his system. I will need to speak to Akon-san about how long that should take, and if there is not something we can give him, and Karin-san, that will speed up the process."

"What ever happened to Nemu? We didn't see her at the facility," Ichigo asked curiously once they had Szayel tucked back in comfortably with the egg clutched to his side.

"She was confined when Kurotsuchi went rogue. Now that he is dead, they will find the time to look more closely at her case and determine what is to be done with her," Unohana answered honestly. "The entire 12th division is under scrutiny right now, but I don't think they will be held accountable for their Taichou's traitorous actions any more than the 3rd, 5th and 9th were," she assured him.

"That's a relief," Ichigo sighed, before once more turning his attention towards his sister.

Karin hadn't stirred at all during the commotion, remaining limp against Yylfrodt's chest, where the Arrancar had dragged her the moment Szayel had captured everyone's attention.

It would seem that this long day was not over yet. Yylfordt was still rather blood splattered, and so was Karin, thanks to the proximity of the two. Getting the blood off of both of them would go a long way to calming everyone down. How the hell was he going to get them separated without the liberal use of a crowbar?

"_**You're the pack Alpha idiot. Just firmly order him to drop her and clean himself up. Being clean is very important since you don't want the scent to linger and attract others,"**_H'tsu pointed out in a tone of voice that implied he was an idiot._ However, _before Ichigo could follow H'tsu's advice on how to get Yylfordt to give up Karin, Grimmjow beat him to it.

"You, let her go and clean your punk ass self up," Grimmjow ordered.

For a moment it looked like Yylfrodt was going to protest, so Ichigo moved in to stand right before the Arancar, drawing his attention.

"Set my sister down and do as ordered," he commanded sternly, before letting his expression soften just a little. "You reek of blood that can be smelt for miles. Everything will feel better once the blood is gone," he added.

Yylfordt finally looked down at his own blood soaked clothing and body. Nodding reluctantly, he finally let Karin go and moved over to the small attached bathroom to shower. Ichigo finally had a chance to see to his sister, removing his blood stained top from her. Grimmjow poked his head into the hallway and barked at one of the shinigami on duty to bring them some hot water and a cloth. A nervous, yet determined, Hanataro delivered the lemon scented water.

"Thanks, Hanataro," Ichigo thanked the young man.

"No, problem Ichigo-san. Is she going to be okay?" he asked nervously.

"I think so," Ichigo smiled, but it felt strained.

He proceeded to wipe the blood that had contaminated her skin off with the cloth and the hot, lemon scented water Hanataro delivered. It didn't take long to clean her up and he pulled a fresh, white yukuta over her, once again provided but Hanataro. Hanataro changed the soiled sheets while he was dressing Karin, and bowed his way out with the red tainted cloth. Including the clothing he stole when no one was watching.

Once she was settled back into the bed, Ichigo felt most of his tension ease away, and another chunk of it left when Yylfordt emerged from the bathroom, almost a full hour after he had went in, with a towel wrapped around his waist and sans any sight of blood or gore. He left a trail of water behind him as his yellow hair, darkened with water, dripped liberally. Both Alpha's could see the tension just drain as Yylfordt caught sight of Karin, free of any blood herself and resting comfortably on her cot with fresh blankets. If one didn't know better, they would assume she was simply sleeping peacefully.

Hanataro ducked hesitantly back in with new clothing for them to wear and left it by the door before bowing back out. With things calmed down, Ichigo took the time to take a shower as well, getting the blood off of himself and letting the hot water wash most of the last bit of tension away. He felt a million times better, and a million times more exhausted from the emotional rollercoaster they had ridden over the last four days, as he emerged from the bathroom in fresh clothing.

'_There must be some form of irony here that the only one who didn__'__t get any blood on himself is Grimmjow, the most bloodthirsty of us all,__"_ he mused.

He wasn't that surprised to see Yylfordt, also dressed in a simple white hospital gown as that seemed to be the only spare clothing around, once more curled up beside Karin on her cot, her body pulled against him. They both appeared to be sleeping. The big brother part of him wanted to force them apart and give Yylfrodt the beating of a lifetime, but the Pack Alpha part of him was pleased that the Arrancar was properly caring for the one he has set his sight on making his Beta. In truth, he was just too damn exhausted to care that much and he found himself collapsing into a nearby chair and dozing off before he even realized it.

(POV)

Well, he had to give it to Kurosaki that he hadn't flown off of the deep end when he emerged from the shower to see the young couple curled together on Karin's cot. He was content to sit next to Szayel's cot, one hand resting on the egg that contained his second heading-for-the-homestretch-to-hatch offspring. He really wanted to get back to the den now, but he understood the reasons why they should remain here, at least for a day or two more. Still, the burning desire to have all of his cubs and pack safe and sound was a hard instinct to curb. Sometimes having such a vocal instinct could be a pain, especially when he rationally knew what was the smarter thing to do.

The room was silent, except for the sound of breathing, as Ichigo slipped into slumber as well; a light doze that would quickly be broken should someone come in. This left him on guard duty, but he didn't mind. With no one watching he could let his guard down a little and gaze in wonder at the newest addition to their pack, even if it was only an egg right now. It made him long for the egg back at the den. He wanted to see the two side by side; half siblings that would grow up with the others.

Briefly, he wondered if any other hollow had ever been so lucky to have so many offspring, and have them survive. Vasto Lorde might come close as few dared to mess with them and any cubs they had would be safe, but if that was the case there would probably be more of them around. Of course, Adjucus on the cusp of evolution would probable find a Vasto Lorde's cub a very fitting meal, so perhaps even they faced the danger of being consumed. No doubt a Vasto Lorde was just as weakened as he had become with cub, so there is a chance that an impregnated one would also find itself as a snack to those it once never feared.

Hanataro poked his head in the room a few times while the others rested, clearly checking if they needed something, but a simple look from him sent the boy ducking out again. Still, he had to give it to the runt. The boy had guts even looking into a room containing two powerful Arrancar that could snuff him out of existence before he even saw them move. It was getting later in the day, the sun low in the West, when Unohana returned with some strange, horned Shinigami, who wisely choose to wait by the door as she entered.

Ichigo jerked awake, followed quickly by Yylfordt. If Unohana thought anything of Karin's bed mate, she made no comment on it. In fact, he swore he caught the barest tip of her lips in a smile.

"Has she stirred yet?" Unohana asked softly, mindful of the still slumbering Szayel.

"No," Grimmjow answered, having been the only one coherent the entire time.

"I have asked Akon-san here to see to the drugs in their systems. I believe he may have an antidote to them. May he be permitted to see them?" she asked.

Yylfrodt let out a growl and pulled Karin closer to him, glaring hatefully and very distrustfully at the horned Shinigami. In fact, now that Grimmjow thought about it, Yylfrodt hadn't stopped glaring at Akon since the man had come into the Arrancar's sight. Szayel finally stirred a little as the mounting tension in the room rose and his instincts alerted him to danger.

" 'sa up?" Szayel slurred, eyes unfocused and clearly dazed.

"Akon has the antidote to the drugs Kurotsuchi pumped into you, and wants to administer it," Ichigo answered, although most of his attention was on the Arrancar almost acting like a trapped dog.

" 'out 'ime," Szayel slurred, trying to sit up without much success.

Grimmjow moved the egg to a safer spot and helped the Beta move more comfortably onto his back, pulling an arm out from under the blankets. Taking that as permission, Akon approached and pulled a needle out of his robes. Things got a little unpleasant at that point. He had almost forgotten how badly Yylfordt reacted to things like needles, and only Ichigo's quick reflexes caught the Arrancar before he could make a dash for the exit with Karin cradled against his chest and a feral snarl on his lips. Unohana was also quick to respond, easily catching the Arrancar by the shoulder and holding him still with her commanding presence alone. The speed at which she moved suggested she had been anticipating such a reaction.

Szayel ignored the whole thing and let out a sigh of relief as the needle slid into his arm and injected the orange contents. It was certainly some quick acting stuff, or perhaps the scientist own natural defences gave the drug a boost, because those golden eyes seemed to clear damn near instantly and Szayel let out another, more firm sigh of relief.

"About time. Worthless, former piece of crap, poor excuse of a scientist. A lab rat would make a more efficient serum than that shit," he growled.

Akon quickly shun a light in either golden eye, which Szayel impatiently put up with, before giving a nod of his head and turning back to the stand off occurring on the other side of the room.

Yylfordt still had Karin clutched to him with Unohana resting one hand on his shoulder and Ichigo with his arm out to stop him. Even stilled, Yylforst only had eyes for Akon, a look of hate mingled with a touch of fear as his eyes kept sliding to the needles and his sword hand kept twitching towards his Zanpakuto. In fact, if he hadn't been cradling Karin to his chest he probably would have drawn Del Toro by now. There was recognition there, and that was when it dawned on him. Yylfordt had met Akon before, no doubt while being held and experimented on before they had rescued him. While Akon clearly didn't have the power levels that they did, the ingrained fear was still there, a reminder of a time when he had been held helpless and at other's lack of mercy.

"I think it would be best if I leave," Akon noted, handing the other needle over to Szayel, who took it with firm hands and nod of his head.

"I believe that would be a good idea," Unohana agreed.

Akon left, moving in a wide arc around the standoff. Some of the tension left the room as the door slid shut behind the retreating shinigami.

"Yylfordt-san, well you kindly place Karin-san back on her cot please?" Unohana asked politely.

For a moment it looked like the Arrancar was about to protest, but pointed glares from the Alpha Pair had him obeying, even if he was stiff postured about it. Szayel handed the needle off to Ichigo before turning his, now coherent, attention towards his new egg and impending offspring, damn near cooing over the thing and muttering about needing paper and a pen. Grimmjow ignored him for now.

Yylfordt still stiffened when Ichigo approached with the needle, and Grimmjow moved over to rest a hand on his former fractions shoulder to help steady him. Ichigo slid the needle in and the orange fluid entered Karin's body. Unlike Szayel, she didn't just bolt awake, but remained limp and unresponsive. As each second passed, the tension in the room rose. The only one who didn't seem concerned at all was Szayel

(POV)

Darkness. It was all around her. Darkness and cold. She was shivering. At times the darkness receded, but when it did it always brought blinding pain to her stomach and the coldness became sharper. She didn't fight it when a prick would plunge her back down again. It was safer down here and not as cold. She was pain free here as well.

She dreamed sometimes, at least she thought she did. It was hard to hold a coherent thought in the darkness and cold. All she remembered from her dreams was the colour yellow. Something about yellow.

Yellow. Why yellow?

She felt herself drift closer to the surface again, and she scrambled for the darkness. She didn't want the pain, didn't want the cold. But…. this time it wasn't white by itself, there was something on the other side of it, something yellow.

Yellow. Why yellow?

Yellow meant something. Yellow was warm, not cold like white. Flowing yellow. Flowers maybe? No, not flowers. Strands. Strands of yellow waving in the wind. The branches of a fall touched tree maybe? No, that still didn't seem right. Perhaps the golden rays of the sun reflecting off of a river.

She felt her mind ease a little and the cold retreated, but still the white persisted, held her on the side of the darkness when she tried to fight her way towards the yellow. She gave up trying to break through the white, it wasn't going to happen anytime soon, and instead just let herself rest in the basking rays of what yellow could get through. The yellow held the darkness back and she felt much more at ease. In fact, the pain in her stomach was almost non existent in the rays of yellow. Yellow like the sun. Warmth. Love. Yellow was love. No red was love, wasn't it? No, that didn't seem right, red was blood, and pain. Yellow was not red.

A prick. No, she didn't want to go back to the darkness, not this time. She fought towards the yellow, it was safe, it would protect her. She mentally clawed at the white wall, urged on when she saw it begin to break down under her assault. The yellow was right there, it was waiting for her, giving her strength. With a final mental kick, the white shattered around her and she flung herself at the yellow.

Feeling returned to her soul. She was pressed against something warm that was holding her tightly. Her eyes blinked open and took some time to adjust, for she had been locked in darkness for some time, but there was one thing that caught her eye. Yellow. She focused on it, watched as it resolved itself into silken hair. There was white too, but it was a good white, almost more of a bone colour. Bone. Yellow strands of hair floating in the wind held back by a chunk of bone.

" 'fordt?" she murmured.

She felt the arms around her tighten, holding her close. It was all the answer she needed. He was here. He had come for her. Unless he was taken too. No that could not happen. It would break him if Kurotsuchi got a hold of him again. Before such a fear could get too ingrained, another voice broke into her thoughts.

"Karin, are you alright? How are you feeling?"

She knew that concerned voice as well. Her gaze traveled to her brother, standing beside them with a look of worry on his features. He looked exhausted as well, and like he was holding off strangling the male behind her by the thinnest threads. She was safe, there was no doubt about it. There was simply no way the painted freak would be able to capture her brother, or the concerned taichou waiting patiently off to the side.

It was a good thing her father wasn't here right now. She was not sure she could stand listening to Isshin and his antics over her virtue right now when the embrace of the man behind her was all the comfort she really wanted.

"Tired," she admitted, but even that was starting to fade as the drug was slowly eradicated from her system and her mind was slowly cleared. "Szayel!" she jerked fully awake, remembering her fellow prisoner.

"Alive and well, thank you," Szayel spoke up, brining her attention to the other cot, and more importantly, to the egg he was curled around.

"How long has it been?" she asked.

"Four days," four voices answered at the same time, each of the four looking sheepish at having spoken at the same time.

"Kurotsuchi?" she questioned hesitantly.

"Dead," Yylfordt answered firmly from behind her, his chest rumbling against her back as he did so.

"And…. me?" she asked hesitantly, one hand going to her stomach and the small patches of gaze that covered the incisions Kurotsuchi had made in her as she asked.

"Other than a bit of foreign hollow reiatsu that was injected into your womb, which your body is taking care of, you are fine Karin-san. In other words, you are not pregnant," Unohana assured her warmly.

She felt relief rush through her and settled back against Yylfordt's chest. Szayel had been right, Kurotsuchi failed, although a part of her worried that it might be because she would be incapable of ever carrying such young. Not that she was ready or wanting children just yet, but she knew that down the road she would, and she also knew that children was one of the reason Yylfordt was going through the painfully slow, to a hollow anyway, task of courting her, even though their physical power difference suggested he need not do such a thing.

"I told the barely-smarter-than-a-petridish that it would fail," Szayel scoffed.

"Why did it fail?" Unohana questioned curiously.

"Because there was no battle for dominance to prime both the giver and receiver of the DNA infused reiatsu," Szayel answered as if it should have been obvious. "In other words, he was yanking on the cord of a fully fuelled engine without priming it first."

No battle for dominance. Szayel had mentioned that before hadn't he? She knew Yylfordt was eager and willing to train with her, but she hadn't thought that it was all part of getting her ready to mate. When the time came they would have to fight, to engage in a spar that would prime them both. No wonder her brother and Grimmjow always looked like they had torn each other up and, simultaneously, had the best sex they had ever had.

"If you can manage to untangle yourself from your rather possessive companion, I would like to do a more through investigation now that you are conscious," Unohana requested.

Karin chuckled softly and Yylfrodt let out a grunt of annoyance, but now that she was awake, coherent, and clearly fine, he was starting to loosen his grip on her body a bit. Still, she wasn't quite so sure she wanted him too far away from her. It would be some time before she would want to be alone again, even if she knew the bastard that had taken her was dead.

"I think I would sooner stay here," she reluctantly admitted.

"I think we can work around that," Unohana offered her a soft smile of understanding. "And Karin-san, there is no need to feel ashamed."

Karin nodded her head and relaxed more comfortably against the warm chest at her back. She was too drained to feel ashamed at needing to be hold like a child right now. Besides, she had a feeling that even if she wanted to sit up by herself, Yylfordt wouldn't let her.

True to her word, Unohana worked around her staying right where she was. The healer's touch was warm and it was a relief to know that she was, more or less, fine despite her ordeal. Now that Szayel was coherent, he was inputting his own list of things to look out for, most of which were not found in her body. A few things were, and they were quickly nullified. Still, there was that lingering fear that _something_ may have been missed. She wondered how Yylfordt lived like this, the fear of some unknown tampering hovering over his shoulder for the rest of his life. She better understood some of his quirks now, that was for sure.

"I know you wanted to keep them here, but I would feel much better getting them back to the safety, and emotional security, of the den," Ichigo spoke up when Unohana was done.

"I understand. I would still like them to spend the night, just to be on the safe side. Is that alright with you?" she asked.

"Yeah, we can return in the morning," Grimmjow grunted. "Is there anything more comfortable we can crash on?" he demanded.

"I will see about having a spare cot brought in. I presume one will do?" she asked with an amused smile.

Ichigo, despite his age and rather active sexual life style, still blushed slightly before his gaze wandered over to them. Karin gave him a look that just DARED him to separate them. For a moment it looked like there was going to be an argument, but her brother let out a sigh and his body slumped in defeat.

"Yeah, one should be good enough, providing you think there is enough room for two on it."

"You are going back tonight," Grimmjow ordered. "Your egg has been away from you long enough," he added before Ichigo could begin to argue.

Ichigo froze, even his impressive reiatsu going still, before conceding to the request without any further argument. If Karin knew her brother, and she knew him pretty good, than she knew he had been neglecting the others during his search for her. While his friends would understand and accept it, it would be devastating to the cubs.

"Go back to the den Ichi-nii, I will be fine," she assured him. "Give the cubs a hug for me," she added.

"I will," he agreed.

Shortly after, he followed Unohana out. Hanataro came in with trays of food, and her stomach let out a rather loud and embarrassing gurgle of appreciation, one that Szayel's mimicked.

"Guess we are hungry," she chuckled.

"Please try to eat slowly, as you have not had food for several days," Hanataro instructed in a shy, hesitant voice.

"I'll try," she assured him, damn near ripping the lid off her meal. However, before she could grab the chopsticks, they were snatched up by the man behind her. "OI!" she protested.

"I will make sure she eats appropriately," Yylfordt assured the boy.

"I am not two," she pouted, crossing her arms defiantly.

"No, but I have seen you eat when you are hungry," he replied.

Snorting, she turned to glare at the other two males in the room, just daring them to say anything. Szayel was eating with barely restrained eagerness while Grimmjow made sure the egg was safe, although he still had one eye on them while occasionally grabbing Szayel's hand to make him slow down when he lost himself. Letting out another huff of indignation, she finally uncrossed her arms and let Yylfordt feed her. Some battles you just can't win. Besides, she did get the impression that the act of feeding her was relaxing and calming to him. She had a feeling that he was going to be rather protective of her for some time. And right now, after the terrifying shit she just went through, that didn't bother her in the least.

* * *

><p>Huge hugs to those of you that took the time to review. Yes, hopefully I will be ending this story soon. Hard to believe that this was suppose to be a 1 Shot for Blackstorm, and instead is now 60 chapters long. That is over 600 pages! It is very, very hot here so I don't know when I will have the energy to type. Damn thermostat was over 40 today. 40!<p>

This Week Question: How are you going to get your Bleach fix with a 5 week hiatus?


	61. Home

Home

"Papa!" a chorus of excited voices screamed as he entered the large playroom/living room/ dinning room…..

'_For now on, it__'__s bloody well just __'__The Room,__''_ he thought inwardly while a large smile covered his face and he kneeled down to receive the stampede of cubs racing towards him, those capable of speech demanding answers out of him a mile a minute. They all hit him at about the same time and he fell flat on his back, giving out hugs the best he could and simply enjoying the attention of his offspring plus two. He had always love young children, and that had never changed over the years.

He spotted Jushiro sitting on the couch with a brush in hand, no doubt he had been in the middle of brushing out Hijastro's fur when he had come in and distracted her. Ishida appeared to be sowing something, a dress by the looks of it and the size indicated it was for his youngest daughter. Orihime had been abandoned by the large pile of now knocked over blocks. Chad and Tesra emerged from the kitchen, no doubt doing dishes by the way their sleeves were pulled up and their arms wet.

"Alright, calm down," Ichigo returned his attention to his children plus two. "We found them. Unohana-taichou is just checking them over and wants to observe them for the night. They should be back home sometime tomorrow morning or early afternoon," he assure them

The tension flew out of the room at his announcement, a fair amount of it coming from Hijastro at the news that her Mapa was safe. The cubs, assured that all was well, were more than ready to go back to playing. Ichigo turned his attention towards the pile of pillows and blankets set up in the corner while the cubs scattered back to what they had been doing before his arrival. Now that his pack was safe, he had a very strong urge to see to his own egg, one H'tsu was damn near crooning for. Who knew his hollow could be so sensitive?

"How were they?" he asked his friends as he bee lined for the egg he had left unattended for far too long.

"Upset and sad, but otherwise well behaved," Jushiro assured him, brush once more running through Hijastro's fur as the cub returned to him, purring happily and leaning into the strokes. "It is always a pleasure to watch them."

That was good to hear and he wasn't too surprised. The cubs were all pretty well behaved and it was rare that he needed to discipline any of them.

"Are you planning on heading back to Soul Society?" Ishida asked.

Ichigo crawled into the nest and curled himself around the egg, probing it with his reiatsu. The returning touch was hesitate at first, but became more firm as the unhatched cub forming within it recognized its parent. Tension he hadn't even realized he was still feeling drained away as he was re-united with his young.

"No. Grimmjow will return with the others in the morning. They don't need me to go back and forth. Besides, I should really stay with the egg," he murmured. Despite himself, he found himself drifting off, not even hearing the rest of the enquires his friends had. It had been a long couple of days.

(POV)

Grimmjow sighed and looked out the window of their room, Pantera resting against his hip and the only sound in the room that of the quiet breathing of the two sleeping and the last tenant, whom was also silently watching over their two injured pack mates. It was probably a good thing he had chased Ichigo off, because while the young man might have stood the two cuddling, he might have had a different reaction to the two actually sleeping, completely naked, together. Well, Karin was sleeping, Yylfordt was wide awake and nuzzling his bed partner while rubbing against her like an affectionate animal.

With his 'hopeful' mate so compromised, it was no wonder Yylfodt was scent marking the shit out of her, gently rubbing his skin against hers to make it clear that she belonged to him, and anyone wanting to fuck with her had better be ready to meet the business end of his arsenal. Grimmjow knew that Yylfordt was going to have this reaction, and he knew Ichigo would probably have objected. It was best to get him out of the way and he would make sure that it went no further than scent marking, not that he expected Yylfordt would go further, but instinct was a powerful thing. That, and Ichigo really needed to get back to their own egg. Once his mate was wrapped around the egg there would be little that would pry him away now that he knew his pack was safe.

Karin hadn't seemed to mind Yylfordt's attention, granted, she was probably too damn exhausted, and still afraid, to really notice or care. If anything, the skin on skin contact seemed to ease her as well, the touch letting her know this was real and she was safe. The night passed uneventfully, save for Karin waking up with the odd start out of a nightmare. She didn't stay awake for too long though as Yylfrodt soothed her back down to sleep, whispering softly that she was safe and he was here. Szayel slept fitfully as well, occasionally coming awake, checking on the egg and sweeping the room with his weakened reiatsu for danger before letting out a soft sigh of relief and drifting off to sleep again.

Hanataro checked in on them every hour until around midnight, when he was replaced by Unohana. Grimmjow was pleased the healer had made sure not to send anyone unknown into their temporary sanctuary. With the way Yylfordt was right now, and even himself he reluctantly admitted, any unknown person entering the room would be missing body parts before they even knew they had been attacked. The sun was just beginning to lighten the sky when Unohana entered again, and this time came fully into the room and approached Karin's bed first. He had to admit that he was impressed when she made sure Yylfordt was damn well aware she was there and approaching the two, speaking as she approached.

"How has she slept?" Unohana asked, not him, but Karin's bed mate.

"Badly," Yylfordt admitted softly so as not to wake Karin. "Nightmares mostly. She falls back asleep quickly though once she realizes she is safe."

"As expected," Unohana sighed softly. "No medical concerns though?"

"No. Physically she seems fine. I want to get her home," he confessed.

"Hopefully later today I can discharge them both. However, I would like to send Hanataro back with you, just to monitor things for a short while. As talented as Ichigo-san is, he is not versed in affiliations of the soul, nor in the types of things Kurotsuchi was known to be into. Do you have any objections?" she asked, this time the question was directed at him.

"The runt? Nah he can come. No threat from him. The cubs will probably eat him alive," he chuckled.

No doubt Hanataro's lack of threat was one of the many reasons she had chosen him. Granted, he didn't feel an iota of threat from anyone in the 4th, well, other than from Unohana when she wanted you to do something you didn't want to. For a healer, she could be frightening as hell when she gave you 'the look.' He was half tempted to ask her were she had mastered such a thing.

"I am sure Hanataro-san will managed quite well. He is stronger than he looks. Now then, would you be so kind as to wake Karin-chan up so I can check her over? The sooner I check them both out, the sooner I can send you all home."

Yylfordt crawled out of the bed and pulled his, now cleaned, uniform back on without a care of his nudity in front of Unohana before gentle nudging Karin awake, whispering something into her ear. She awoke with a groan and sat up, pulling the blanket around her to cover her own nudity from the rest of them.

"Good morning Karin-san, how are you feeling?" Unohana asked with a soft smile.

"Tired," Karin answered truthfully. "I didn't sleep too well," she confessed.

"I would imagine not, but at least you did manage to get some unaided sleep. I would like to give you another physical before sending you home. May I?"

"Yeah, of course," Karin agreed, sitting up straighter.

Unohana set about checking Karin over, asking questions and getting her to do things like take deep breaths and sticking her tongue out. The exam took about an hour, but Unohana seemed pleased with the results and assured the teen that, other than needing to get a bit more food in her, she was fine and healthy.

Szayel had awakened during the examination and Unohana turned her attention his way now that she was done with Karin. Free, Karin hopped out of the bed and got dressed in the simple Yukuta that had been provided for her earlier before snuggling once more in Yylfordt's lap. He was more than content to keep her close.

Food was delivered while Szayel was undergoing his poking and prodding. This time Karin was permitted to feed herself and she did a relatively good job at not scarfing it down like a starved beast. The fact it was soup might have helped a bit with that. Hot soup was not so easy to pile down the gullet. After an hour long examination, Unohana cleared Szayel to return to the den as well. Hanataro hovered nervously at the door, waiting patiently for them as they got ready to leave and listened to the thinly veiled threat of the 4th Division's leader as she threatened them to within an inch of their lives if they tried to hide any odd symptoms they might incur from either herself or Hanataro. She also provided them with some pills to help them sleep should they require the aid. They were not mandatory and were only to be taken if they found they couldn't get any sleep at all.

"I understand, Unohana-taichou. Can we please just go home now?" Karin begged.

"Yes. I am sure your family is impatiently waiting for your return. Have a safe trip home," Unohana bade.

There was an escort waiting for them outside the 4th division's entrance. Grimmjow raised an eye at the two that meet them, but conceded it was probably the best escort they could get.

"Yo!" Renji greeted them with a raised hand.

"Oh, is that the egg?" Rukia gushed, damn near dancing around Szayel to get a peek at the cargo he was carrying.

"Yes, yes, you can see it better when we get home," Szayel brushed her away.

"Truly?" Rukia beamed at him with big, bright eyes.

"Unless if Grimmjow has any objection, yes, you can truly see it," he sighed.

Rukia looked his way apprehensively.

"Don't see why not," he grunted.

The runt was one of Ichigo's closest friends. Even if he had said no, he knew Ichigo would just veto him anyway. Even though Ichigo had carried this time around, he was still the Pack Alpha and held the spot of top superiority. That would, most likely, never change.

"Well, if you guys are ready to head out…" Renji left it at that.

Grimmjow gave a sharp nod of his head. He was more than ready to return to the den and his pack. Other than some idle chit chat between the others, the walk towards the secure location for a garganta to be set up was uneventful. Szayel did lean against him a bit, his weakness from his time in captivity and the laying combined with the weight of the egg was sapping his meagre strength quickly. Hopefully, Tesra would have a large meal ready for them by the time they got back. The more food they crammed down Szayel's throat, the faster he would regain his strength.

They arrived at their destination without incident, although they did garner some mixed looks and whispers erupted behind them. It was with great satisfaction he tapped the air and opened the garganta for home. The air here was thin and unpleasant. Hanataro hesitantly followed them through the portal, the poor lad swallowing nervously and keeping close as they walked down the white trail Yylfordt created for them. It was with great relief that he stepped out onto the sands of home, and an even greater relief to be swarmed by his children when he walked through the door into The Room.

Karin was damn near tackled by her sister as Yuzu came running from the kitchen. Ichigo either picked his sister up in the morning, or Isshin had heard what had gone down and had brought the fair-haired twin over. Since Isshin joined them a moment later, he suspected the second to be true.

Yylfordt let Yuzu past his guard, she was Karin's sister after all. Yylfordt met Isshin, the man staring down the Arrancar sternly. Grimmjow shot a look towards Ichigo, who was watching the situation. Good, he could focus on his cubs and not need to worry about prying his mate's father's hands away from Yylfordt's throat if Isshin decides to blame the man for his daughters kidnapping. He did check on Szayel, the pink haired Arrancar shuffling over to join Ichigo in the nest with a thrilled Rukia following in his wake, the woman practically gushing over the two eggs once they were side by side.

(POV)

Ichigo was watching the situation with his father and future brother-in-law closely. Isshin had always been over protective of his daughters. Isshin and Yylfordt shared a conversation he didn't catch, but his father's eyes narrowed before he walked past the Arrancar and pulled Karin into a tearful reunion. Karin was doing her best to stand strong and assure their father she was fine, but he could tell she was ready to break and had enough emotional tension for the last few days.

Before he could move in and chase Isshin off though, his father, surprisingly, backed off on his own and Yylfordt and Karin took the opportunity to slip out. He shuffled over as Szayel joined him in the nest with his own egg, Rukia pausing at the edge to stare at the two eggs in awe.

"You can touch it," he assured her.

Her eyes lit up with joy and she finished closing the distance, hesitantly reaching out to run her fingers over the shell protecting his upcoming cub. Somehow, that look of wonder increased and she started to coo at the unborn cub. He could feel the cubs hesitant reatisu trace the one touching its shell, but the touch didn't remain hesitant for long before it met Rukia's eagerly.

A glance over at Grimmjow showed his mate was busy wrestling with the cubs, who were shouting and squealing in delight. Yuzu returned to the kitchen with Tesra with the promise of a large lunch soon to come. The rest of his friends were either sitting on the couches and watching the large family play, or gleefully joined in on the playing. Renji was quickly becoming a favourite climbing apparatus, and the red haired Shinigami seemed to enjoy ever second of the attention.

While he was concerned for his sister, he knew what it was like to want to be left alone, and how annoying 'are you alright' can get when everyone asked it. Instead, he felt a pull to return his attention to the nest, or more accurately, the egg currently residing in it next to him. He didn't fight it, and soon found himself contently watching his friends and family play curled around his impeding offspring with a slumbering Szayel beside him and Rukia sitting on his other side telling the unhatched cubs tall tales of their adventures.

(POV) (TIME)

Grimmjow found he couldn't sleep that night, but that was fine. He was more than content to sit there and watch the others rest peacefully There was something enduring about seeing Ichigo and Szayel sleeping back to back, both men curled up around their respective eggs; his children. The rest of the cubs were sprawled out around the two men, making the usually large nest seem rather small. At first it appeared like there would be no room for him to join them, but he knew there was since he was usually nestled right in there with them, but tonight he was feeling restless.

They had managed to get a good amount of food into Szayel, and the Arrancar was starting to show it as his reiatsu started to climb again and his body started to put on a bit more weight. They had Yuzu and Tesra to thank for that. He had no idea how they managed to cook so much so fast and keep the kitchen in a neat, tidy, and orderly manner through it all.

With a sigh he glanced out the barred window and up at the crescent moon. The first egg would be hatching soon, possibly even tomorrow night. He couldn't wait to see if it would be a boy or girl. Hell, if he was honest with himself, he was hoping for a girl. He already had three boys.

With a stretch, he forced himself to move. Leaving his core pack behind, he moved out into the hall and made his way back to where the rest of his extended family and mate's friends were snoozing. Since he was on night patrol, it was his duty to check in on the rest of the extended pack and get the reports from Harribel's sub pack.

Yuzu and Tesra were sharing a room tonight, only she was sleeping in the nest curled up with Ternero while he was curled up on the couch. That relationship was going to take a bit more cultivating, and it definitely helped that Yuzu seemed to have no problems adopting the hollow cub, even though he wasn't her own. She loved the boy, all the cubs actually, as if they were her own.

Rukia and Renji were also sharing a room, only they actually shared the nest. They were not cuddled together like lovers, but they were keeping close and sharing body heat. Grimmjow had no doubt that the two of them had clearly been pack for a very long time, for only pack could, and would, share such close quarters without expecting more.

Jushiro had returned to Soul Society, and oddly enough, took Isshin with him. He didn't know if Ichigo knew that his father had slipped out, but he doubted his mate would care either way. Ichigo shared a rather strange relationship with his Sire.

Hanataro had a room to himself, but the boy wasn't asleep. He was in the nest, but he was obviously nervous and damn near jumped out of his skin and let out a terrified and surprised 'meep' when Grimmjow opened the door to peek in.

"Relax brat, just doing a perimeter check," he grunted.

"Oh, right, sorry Grimmjow-san," the boy bowed.

He rolled his eyes and went to close the door, before pausing and regarding the truly miserable boy. Since his arrival the boy had been hovering uncertainly, and almost terrified, at the edges of the pack like the most terrified Omega he had ever seen. Even the cubs left him alone out of a sense of pity. Well, except for Hijastro, but the girl could charm the wits out of the most violent youkai if she wanted to.

"Come on. You obviously ain't going to get any sleep, so I might as well show you around and introduce you to the others you haven't met yet who are here on night patrol," he grunted.

Hanataro looked up at him in a mixture of surprise, fear, and relief, before darting to his feet and grabbing his blue bag of supplies. "Of course, Sir!" he saluted.

Grimmjow held the door open as the boy ducked passed him and then fell into step beside him as he continued on his round. Yylfordt and Karin were next. Unlike with the other rooms, he didn't just poke his nose in, he sent a brush of his reiatsu first and waited for Yylfordt to return it.

"You didn't do that for me," Hanataro noted shyly.

"I didn't, and won't for the others. I am only doing it for Yylfordt because he is high strung right now and courting a mate that was just traumatized," he explained.

"Oh, that makes sense," Hanataro murmured.

He felt Yylfordt's reiatsu wash over them both and opened the door once it retreated. He wasn't too surprised to see they were both awake, and Karin's eyes were suspiciously puffy red and wet. She looked horrible and was nursing a strong cup of coffee. They both were actually.

"Can't sleep?" he questioned with a grunt.

Karin gave her head a shake. "It's only what I deserve," she muttered.

"Where the fuck you get that idea?" he barked.

"I killed those men.." she whispered, trailing off. "Karma's a bitch," she offered him a weak, pathetic smile.

"I told you, they deserved it," Yylfordt tried to comfort her. "They tortured and raped many of the … _specimens_," he growled the word, "that they were in charge of."

"Killed some men?" Hanataro questioned confused.

"Some of those freaks Kurotsuchi had working for him when they took Szayel and the female cubs," Grimmjow explained over his shoulder as he marched up to the table, intent to give her a peace of his mind over the idiocy she was convincing herself of. Ichigo wouldn't do it, so it was up to him to knock some sense into her skull.

"Oh. Why is that bad?" Hanataro asked. "I mean, it's always sad when people die, but if they were hurting others…" Hanataro trailed off nervously.

Karin stared at him in a mixture of surprise and confusion, and he followed her example, raising an eye at the whelp of a boy who was probably the most pacifist creature he had ever met.

"Sometimes, you have to fight for what is right, and sometimes people die during those fights. If they were Shinigami, than they should have already been prepared to die in their mission. You mentioned Karma, did you think that, maybe, you were their Karma for hurting others. They didn't have to abuse their power, but they did," he pointed out nervously, stuttering over his lines a bit, but obviously determined to say his piece.

Damn the whelp was good. He turned back to Karin to see her eyes turned inward as she mentally chewed on what Hanataro was saying.

"And if you hadn't been taken, Ichigo-san would never have found Kurotsuchi, and the man could have continued hurting people for years. I am sorry you were hurt, but, it turned out all right in the end, didn't it?" Hanataro asked.

"I… it did," Karin agreed softly. "Thank you, Hanataro, you have given me something to think about."

Hanataro offered her a weak, nervous smile in return.

"Not bad runt," Grimmjow grunted. "I got to finish my patrol, come on brat," he ordered.

"Of course, Grimmjow-san."

Hanataro followed him out. He did take one last, backwards glance and saw Yylfordt finally getting Karin into bed, hopefully to get some real sleep. She had a pensive look on her face and was letting the Arrancar usher her about without resistance. He closed the door behind him and continued on his trek through the halls.

"Did you really mean all that shit you said, or was that just some sort of physiological training bullshit?" he questioned.

"A bit of both," Hanataro confessed nervously.

"Well, hopefully it will work. Ichigo gets depressed when his siblings are in distress, and when that happens I don't get any," he grunted in displeasure.

Hanataro blushed at the implications of his words and didn't bother to respond. He hated to admit it, but he was quickly growing fond of the boy. He appeared young enough to still be an adolescent, no where near old enough to be out of the pack yet. With two cubs on the way, and a large pack of cubs already his own, he was feeling his paternal instincts on the rise. Unohana had chosen her representative well, and he was suddenly questioning how much of her 'ignorance' of the hollow race was feigned. She was one of the oldest Taichou, so no doubt she had many, many years to draw on for experience.

The next day, Karin and Yylfrodt joined them in The Room, and for once it looked like Karin had gotten some real rest. He could practically see the relief on Ichigo's face as he realized his sister was, finally, starting to heal. Yuzu was far more exuberant over the obvious change in Karin's demeanour. Today was looking like it was going to be a good one, and it only got better when, during dinner, the sound of a crack caught all of their attention.

* * *

><p>Wow, okay, so this Chapter would just not come together, and I am still not that happy Hell, there are probably a dozen errors I missed, but I give up and here it is before I make you all wait any longer. Thank you everyone who took the time to review.<p> 


	62. Offspring

This chapter partially inspired by Blackstorm's artwork: novaalexandria. deviantart art/ THE-REAL-KING-What-happened-to-H-tsu- 369861998

Offspring

The entire table froze, and slowly turned towards the nest where Ichigo and Szayel were both eating their own share of dinner. Neither one wanting to leave their eggs when they were so close to hatching, especially his. Ichigo had ceased eating the moment the sound of his egg cracking had registered in his brain. Now he was watching his egg intently, excitement coursing through his veins and dinner completely forgotten. This may be his sixth cub, he considered Hijastro his after all, but it still never ceased to bring up excitement in him. The egg was rocking back and forth now, and several more cracks appeared along the shell. The sound of their making echoing in the suddenly very silent and still room.

Grimmjow was by his side in a flash of Sonido. Everyone else abandoned the table as well, crowding around at a respectable distance to watch the egg hatch. Cooing and encouragement came from the crowd as the egg rocked. The cubs jumped up and down excitedly as they urged their newest sibling on, or in the case of those with no blood relation, their newest playmate.

Back and forth the egg rocked, more lines appearing as the shell cracked. The egg rolled onto it's side in the nest before rolling once more to face top up as it got caught in between two pillows. The top of the shell finally popped up, before popping right back down in place as gravity took effect. There was a growl of frustration from inside the egg, than the top went flying off to land a few inches away. A pair of hands appeared at the top of the shell; humanoid hands. There was some grunting from the shell, then a head popped up, one covered in a mop of white hair framing a pale, humanoid face.

Ichigo stared at his cub in surprise as it pulled itself completely out of the shell, little legs kicking before plopping down onto the pillows. Unlike all the other cubs, this one didn't seem to be animal like at all, with the exception of the eyes and tail. The eyes were golden and slit, but every other bit of this cub looked like a pale human with white hair. A damn near carbon copy. The only thing he seemed to have picked up from his Sire at all was the white tail.

"You have got to be kidding," Szayel bemoaned, even as the cub turned golden eyes towards the Natural Beta.

"_Somehow, this is your fault, isn__'__t it?__"_Ichigo demanded, unable to decide if he should be annoyed, amused, or pissed at his hollow half.

"_**You are the one who let your Beta screw you,**__**"**_H'tsu pointed out, ire in the hollow's tone. _**"**__**And I was the one who had to suffer for it,**__**"**_he added with a pathetic whine. _**"**__**Weeks of weakness. The nausea. I must have gained three pounds. THREE! I had never felt so fat, all because I was too sick to move and keep in shape.**__**"**_

Ichigo gave his head a bit of a shake and left Zangetsu to calm the irate hollow down. His Zanpakuto managed to do so in short order, allowing Ichigo to study his cub more intently, not that there was much more to note. Other than the tail, the cub was a damn near copy of H'tsu, one that was currently sniffing the air for his first meal.

Szayel gave a shiver, but didn't move away and adjusted his yukata to bear his chest as the cub crawled towards him, drawn by the scent of milk. It had been some time since H'tsu had broken the man, but the memory was still there, even faded with time. The new cub tumbled the last little distance towards the Beta, nosing along until it found a nipple to feed from before settling in comfortably to feed. Szayel seemed to relax after that, the act of breastfeeding relaxing to both cub and Natural Beta.

"He's adorably, Ichi-nii," Yuzu announced cheerfully, breaking the awe induced silence.

"This calls for a celebration!" Isshin announced with a loud cheer. "Another perfect Grandson! Oh you make you father so proud Ichigo," Isshin declared, tears streaming down his face.

"Calm down Goat Face, you are an embarrassment," Karin growled.

While it was nice to see a bit of her fire back, Ichigo still couldn't help but to notice the difference in his sister. Before, Karin would have backed up her bark with a well placed kick or punch to their father's face or midsection. But now she tended to keep her arms either crossed or wrapped around her torso in a defensive manner. She also didn't wander too far from Yylfordt.

"_**He won**__**'**__**t let her King,**__**"**_H'tsu stated. _**"**__**It will be some time before he lets her out of his sight.**__**"**_

"_Yeah,__"_he agreed, understanding completely.

After Szayel had separated him from Grimmjow, Zangetsu had to damn near pry him away from his Beta and egg when it had been laid. While he still felt defensive of his sisters virtues, he honestly could not think of anyone better for Karin than Yylfordt, or Tesra for Yuzu. The Arrancar understood the things Karin had gone through, had even been there when she had killed her first man. Yylfordt did not pity Karin, did not think her weak. If anything, he thought her strong for being able to keep going forward, for standing there before them after the things that she had gone through. She had killed, and it had hurt her, but she hadn't hesitated either. She had done what she could for their family, their pack. It had hurt her, but she didn't whine about it, nor did she push away the silent help offered towards her.

"Who wants cake?" Yuzu asked.

A loud, boisterous amount of agreement met his sister's question. The cubs let out loud cheers of their own and rushed back to the table, their new playmate and sibling instantly forgotten. Yuzu had a cake ready for just this occasion, and Tesra went to retrieve it while she helped the other adults settle the cubs back in at the table. Hollow cubs tended to be born on a pretty set date, so Yuzu had made the cake yesterday in anticipation of the cub hatching at any minute.

The rest of his friends offered their congratulations before returning to the table to score a piece of Yuzu's cake before it could be devoured by the hungry cubs. No one dared to miss a crumb of Yuzu's cooking, and the competition was looking pretty fierce. Well, no one but the two current Mapa's and his mate. Grimmjow was still staring at their newest cub in what seemed to be a state of shock and disbelief. Ichigo smirked and shook his head, completely understanding how his Beta felt. No doubt his own face had looked similar the day Cachorro had hatched.

(POV)

Grimmjow remained at the nest while the others retreated for dessert, staring at the offspring HE had sired in awe. Not that he felt any less love for the cubs Ichigo had sired and he had carried, but there was something amazing about having been the sire of this one. He could just stare at the cub and remember what it felt like to be buried in his mate, to be the one on top for a change. It had felt wonderful, and yet wrong at the same time. Like a cheat. He hadn't won the battle, Ichigo had **let** him top. The next cub, and all future ones, he would carry. At least until the day he could truly beat Ichigo in the battle for dominance. He doubted such a day would ever come, but it made for a good wet dream.

The cub finished feeding and crawled back towards them, tumbling about as he did so until he fell against Ichigo's side. With a wide smile, Ichigo cradled their newest son close while he set about cleaning up the shell pieces from the nest. They were brittle and cracked in his hand a few times as he picked up the pieces, but he didn't want to leave them laying around where sharp edges could cut into skin or worse, have the cub try to eat them and end up cutting up his mouth or insides. He paused as another piece cracked… only, none of the pieces in his hand **had** cracked.

He froze, not daring to move. The soft sound of shell cracking reached his ears again, and it was definitely not coming from him. Ichigo and Szayel had looked at him in confusion as he froze, but the stillness of the nest caused them to hear what he had heard.

Three sets of eyes darted towards Szayel's egg, an egg that was a week younger than Ichigo's. An egg that shouldn't be hatching, and yet appeared to be if the hairline cracks in the shell were anything to go by.

"No, no, no, no," Szayel frantically begged, moving back to his egg and hovering over it in a state of panic. "It's too early. Please don't do this to me."

But a few more cracks appeared in the shell and the egg rocked back and forth weakly.

"Does this happen often?" Ichigo asked worriedly and Szayel's panic increased as the egg continued to rock back and forth.

"No, never. It's too early," Szayel frantically answered, pulling at his hair in frustration. "The cub hasn't had time to fully form. It's going to be premature. The lungs might not even be fully formed. It might be too little to feed. Oh Kami, stay in there little one," Szayel begged, tears threatening the corners of his eyes.

There was a good chance this cub wouldn't make it. Szayel had already miscarried twice thanks to H'tsu, and had lost one after laying it due to the loss of protection when its sire had died and an invader had come into the den. Now it looked like he was about to lose another.

"Dad," Ichigo called, a hint of worry in his voice.

Isshin came over, leaving the table of excited family and friends behind as they all dove into the cake Yuzu had made, as well as finishing the rest of their hastily abandoned dinner. The big grin on Isshin's face faded as he took in the near panic of those present, the elder Shinigami's eyes darting instantly towards his grandchild. The cub let out a yawn and shifted into a more comfortable position in Ichigo's arms. The egg rocked and another crack appeared, drawing Isshin's attention towards the impending child.

"It's too early," Szayel moaned.

Isshin instantly adopted a professional demeanour, back straightening as he clued into the issue.

"Easy Szayel, children are born early all the time. We have the resources here to deal with anything that might arise from an early birth," Ichigo reminded him.

"Ichigo is right. We can handle this," Isshin added confidently. "I am going to go grab a few things. I'll be right back," Isshin promised, disappearing in a flash of Shunpo and all signs of goofery gone as if it never existed.

The egg continued to rock, and now the sound of weak mewling could be heard coming from within as well. If the cub was mewling, than at least the lungs had to have been somewhat formed. Isshin returned with a large bag of supplies even as the cub finally broke free of the shell and weakly flopped to the blanket covered ground, barely twitching and with a bit of the placenta still attached to it's belly, a sure sign the cub wasn't fully formed yet.

She was small, easily half the size Cachorro had been. Her eyes were not open either, but her nose twitched as she sniffed the air about her. Ichigo moved in and gently started to examine the weak, mewling cub while Isshin pulled out equipment from the bag. This was the sort of thing Ichigo had gone to school for, the reason they had spent so long in the Living realm. With deft precision, Ichigo accepted the things his father passed him and set to work, getting tubes down the cubs nose and a ventilator set up over the nose afterwards so oxygen could be sent to the lungs. The cub protested weakly, but Ichigo's hands remained firm as he set about doing what needed to be done, mindful of the placenta as he did so.

One of the things Isshin had brought was a modified breast pump, which Szayel used to quickly get some milk out of his body. The pink haired Arrancar's hands shook with emotion, but he managed to pump an okay amount by the time Ichigo asked for it. Grimmjow had wondered what the tube down the cubs nose was for, and he learned now as Ichigo attached what looked like a syringe to the tube and filled it with milk before letting gravity drain the milk into the cub.

"Dad, can you make sure the incubator is ready. We will bring her over as soon as the feed is done," Ichigo ordered.

"On it," Isshin assured him, rising to his feet and quickly departing the room.

The commotion in the nest had caught everyone else's attention, and the celebratory mood had suddenly vanished. When Grimmjow looked over, it was to see Yuzu and Tesra ushering the cubs out of the room with the help of Ichigo's Shinigami friends. Something about playing in the pool if he caught the conversation right.

"Grimmjow, can you watch the new cub while I deal with this one?" Ichigo asked softly.

"Yeah, sure," he agreed with a grunt.

Ichigo shouldn't have been so worried over a cub not his own, but that was just how the young man was. While extremely rare, it wasn't unheard of for a hollow who had just had a cub, or was about to, to adopt an orphaned cub; especially if they were a Naturally Born Beta.

The tube finished emptying and Szayel finally move forward to gingerly pick up his cub while Ichigo picked up the heavy oxygen tank. Together, they made their way to the fully stocked infirmary. It was the last he saw of his mate and Szayel for two weeks, although Isshin was kind enough to bring him the milk Szayel made sure to pump for their cub. When Ichigo finally did emerge, the hybrid was worn thin and all but collapsed into their nest in a boneless heap.

(TIME)

Two weeks. It took two weeks for the little female cub to start gaining weight and feed on her own. It was slow, but she was gaining weight and strength, enough so that they were able to remove the feeding tube as she was feeding unaided from Szayel and the placenta had finally disappeared as it had been used up by the growing cub.

It was touch and go for the first five days. She had stopped breathing four times, the alarms alerting them and sending them jumping to get her breathing again. The second day had been the worse, for her heart had stopped beating and she had been too weak to even mewl in distress through the whole ordeal.

After those frightful five days her vitals stabilized. Szayel and Ichigo were both in a state of haggard disrepair after that first week. Neither one had left the cub's side and each emergency had been emotionally wearing, especially when her heart had stopped. Szayel had sobbed for an hour after that terrifying event, and Ichigo had simply held him while the man cradled his weak daughter, the little cub struggling every second to keep living.

The first time she managed to feed on her own brought tears of joy to Szayel's face, and the day they put her on the scale to see she had finally gained two ounces had them both practically celebrating. After that first week, the little girl slowly started to recover and grow. By the end of the second week, she was feeding completely on her own and had gained ten ounces since she had been born. It was promising, but they both agreed she should remain in the NICU for now. With the cub out of danger, Ichigo could finally see to his own family, and his own son.

"Hijastro is going to want to see her," he pointed out to Szayel. "Should I tell her she can come visit?"

"Yes," Szayel agreed easily. "She is calm enough I am not worried. I am sorry Ichigo, I have been keeping you from your own cub," he apologized.

"Don't fret over it. He has the entire pack to keep him happy. This one needed me more. It's kind of nice to see all of that training and years of schooling pay off. I look forward to threatening away any suitors when she's older," he smirked.

Szayel shared an amused grin with him before waving him off to finally see how his own family was doing. Hopefully, Grimmjow and the cubs wouldn't be too upset with him for having neglected them for so long. He hadn't lied to Szayel though, the little female cub had needed him, and while Isshin was trained, Szayel simply didn't trust him enough to relax around the former Taichou.

Ichigo sent one last look at the Arrancar, his daughter curled up protectively against him as she fed, before he finally slipped out of the NICU to head towards his own den and waiting family. Hopefully, his youngest son would still recognize him.

(POV)

Ichigo had spent the last two weeks holed up with Szayel. This had left him in charge of the cub he had sired, not to mention all the other cubs he had born plus one. Hijastro, deprived of her Mapa and Sire, had been grouped in with his own offspring. Not that it bothered him in the least. She was pack, and a well behaved cub that often helped Cachorro reign in the triplets when play got a bit rough with their youngest sibling. Yylfordt and Karin were also more than willing to assist him and take the triplets while he attended to things around the quickly growing den. The first batch of cubs were getting old enough to no longer require constant supervision either. In fact, when the four youngsters napped, Cachorro and Hijastro were quite capable of entertaining themselves and staying out of trouble while he took a quick breather.

'_It will be good practice for their own cubs,__'_he couldn't help but to think whenever he thought of Ichigo's sister and the blond haired Arrancar courting her.

He had no doubt that there would be cubs in their future. He kind of looked forward to it in an odd way. One of his own pack would be raising cubs of his own. Nothing spoke more of a healthy and powerful pack than when the lesser members were breeding and rearing their own cubs.

Yuzu had to return to the living realm to attend school and Tesra had followed her, not only because he was courting her, but because Isshin had remained behind to assist with the premature cub and someone had to protect his poor, precious, defenceless daughter. He had little doubt that Yuzu and Tesra would probably be the first to breed. Yuzu was far more maternal than Karin was and Tesra already had a cub and all the experience that went with it. Ternero and Yuzu were close, the woman easily adopting the cub as her own. The teenager had spent more time with Ternero than the boy's own Sire had; not too surprising seeing as how Tesra and Yylfordt had only mated under duress in the first place.

Karin was still not ready to return to her home, and a part of him wondered if she ever would be. From what he understood, Isshin had talked to her teachers and Yuzu was bringing the work home for her to do via correspondence. They hadn't even lied to the school board too much this time, informing them that she had been kidnapped and experimented on by some insane nut ball. The number of letters Isshin had brought back with him on one trip home to check on his precious daughter was astonishing.

'_No wonder she doesn__'__t want to go back. All that __'__pity__'__ would make me sick, not to mention wanting to rip some fucking heads off.__'_

Perhaps that was one solid reason Yylfordt and Karin had grown so close. There was no pity between them, only understanding. While Karin hadn't gone through nearly half the shit Yylfordt had, she had at least gotten a taste of it, which was far more than any human, civilian child should have ever experienced.

Grimmjow jerked his thoughts away from such morbid thing. Both were doing well, and holding the Beta couple spot within the pack. There was no reason to dwell on them when there was something far more exciting, and pleasant, to enjoy right here in front of him.

His newest cub was quickly accepted by the others, and while very humanoid in shape, and damn near a carbon copy of H'tsu, the cub turned out to be just as hardy as the others and was quick to join in their games of tumble and pounce, even if he was still half their size and not nearly as strong. Cachorro was always there to make sure the play never got too rough. His son was going to be a powerful Alpha one day, that was for sure. In fact, he could even leave the cubs alone with Cachorro and Hijastro for short periods of time. Not that he needed too, Karin and Yylfordt were more than willing to watch them while he took care of the duties expected of the Alpha pair. Since Ichigo was disposed of taking care of premature cub, he was the one who had to take the lead, which may have been for the best. He spoke the language after all and could make sure those hoping to join their city and pack knew and understood Ichigo's goals and expectations.

As promised, Ichigo had let any other Arrancar move back into what he considered their city anyhow, so long as they adhered to his rules. Slowly, Harribel and her pack were scrutinizing those returning and setting them up in quarters spread out throughout the city, as well as organizing patrols and even giving the returning Arrancar jobs to do to keep them out of trouble; the biggest one being to repair the massive city and scour every inch for salvageable supplies. Hell, he had even heard that a few were opening shops.

Harribel's fraccion had scoured all the clothing, bed sheets, curtains and other fabric they could find left lying around up, and with some help from Ichigo's Quincy friend and his private collection of dyes, and even some spare fabric, they were fashioning clothing that were as different from the uniforms Aizen had made them wear as one could get. The city of white was slowly turning into a kaleidoscope of colours. Even the other human boy, Chad, was introducing them to the finest line of Mexican cuisine one could find, and since most of the food they were using was imported from Soul Society, it even had a resemblance of nutrients for them.

Most of the Arrancar who hesitantly approached them were the ones they had rescued from Kurotsuchi when they found Yylfordt and Tesra. Their time imprisoned, the experiments conducted on them, the few who had been raped or forced to exchange sexual pleasures for the sake of something so simple as food or a blanket, were so mentally damaged they could hardly even be called hollows anymore. Lo and behold if poor little Hanataro, who was suppose to be Karin and Szayel's medical councillor, didn't end up opening his own office and spending most of his time trying to heal and help those Kurotsuchi had damaged. Perhaps it was his slight, demur appearance that made those Arrancar trust him, or at least feel unthreatened by him, for nothing about Hanataro was threatening. Perhaps it was 'safer' to confide in someone you know you could kill with a flick of your wrist. Either way, Hanataro didn't turn any that approached him away.

So here it was, Las Noches, barely two weeks along and it already had a clothing shop, a food shop, and a psychiatrist/doctor. It was an interesting city and pack Ichigo returned to when the Alpha finally rejoined his family in their den. Szayel would be staying in the NICU until his daughter was stable enough to risk being brought out. Hijastro was upset she hadn't seen her Mapa and new sibling in the last two weeks, but she was as understanding as a child could be and the other cubs kept her distracted with their games. Ichigo had assured the young child that he would bring her to see her new sibling and Mapa in the morning, and that definitely helped ease the child enough she was sleeping well this night.

(TIME)

"She gonna make it?" Grimmjow questioned as he finally got to snuggle with his mate.

"Yes. The worst and most dangerous phases are pass," Ichigo answered, exhaustion laden in his voice. "Thanks for taking care of the cubs while I was away. Seems like I make a dreadful Mapa," he sighed.

"Yeah, well, just leave that to me from here on out. It was nice ta top ya, but it just felt…. wrong," he confessed.

"Hmm," Ichigo agreed. "Is there anything else to report, or did you pretty much fill me in on everything that has happened while I was busy?"

"That's pretty much it, well, other than Harribel want's to know what mating rules are to be enforced. You know how we do things, someone stronger sees someone weaker that looks like they might bear good cubs, and bam, we go after them," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I don't want to see any of that. It's too close to rape, and honestly, if what Hanataro reported to me earlier today is true, I think it might do more harm than good for those that spent time under Kurotsuchi. If anyone want's to mate, both parties must be in agreement. They can have the battle for dominance after that," he declared firmly.

"And the cubs?"

"The nursery is large enough to share. Truthfully, I think Kisuke built it with that very thought in mind. However, I only want mated couples with cubs up in this wing, other than ourselves of course. And maybe Harribel. Having three of the former Espada and myself here should deter anyone from thinking of trying something stupid. Once a couple mates they can move up here for the laying. No point in leaving the Beta where he or she could get into trouble. Temptation removed in no temptation at all."

While Grimmjow felt that if an Alpha couldn't protect his Beta, he didn't deserve to have cubs in the first place, he had to admit that they were hardly in a normal circumstance. While Ichigo was bringing them together much as Aizen had done, this time it was their choice. Ichigo wouldn't hunt them down for not agreeing to serve him. It was their own choice if they wanted to live here under those rules, and they could leave if they wanted to without the fear of being hunted down. Besides, they were not animals anymore, and when Ichigo began to vigorously nuzzle his neck, he couldn't help but to appreciate that fact. Besides, there was nothing stopping him from topping his mate on occasion, especially since they had those wonderful little rubber things that would make sure the Alpha wouldn't conceive.

Still, he had to admit, submitting was far, far more pleasurable, especially when you had and Alpha like Ichigo, and said Alpha was more than willing to make up for lost time and remind him just what submitting to the Hybrid entitled. Unfortunately, nuzzling was as far as it got to go. Their youngest and newest cub woke with a whine and Ichigo rolled over just in time to get a chest full of cub.

"I'll get the bottle," Grimmjow sighed.

"How many do we want?" Ichigo asked as he cradled his son.

"One bottle should be plenty," he answered with a grunt.

"I meant cubs?" Ichigo rolled his eyes at him. "We have five together already, seven if we included Hijastro and the little girl Szayel hasn't named yet."

"As many as we can," Grimmjow answered, his body giving an invulnerable shiver of pleasure at the thought of hundreds of years of sexual pleasure, and the mental image of the giant jungle gym covered in his offspring while they played and increased their hunting prowess was more than enough to give him a very pleasant feeling of maternal pride.

"I am not saying no to more cubs, but don't you think we might want to space them out a bit?" Ichigo questioned, accepting the bottle of milk. "Maybe wait a bit until things settle down here before the next round."

Well, Ichigo had a point. They should really get their new responsibilities settled in and use to the rules hear before mating again. There were bound to be a few Arrancar that were going to need their heads bashed in a few times to get the points home. Having the sheer number of cubs they had were already going to give them a 'HOLY FUCK' factor with those joining them. Once they met and got a taste of their new Pack Alpha though… yeah, the Arrancar were going to come flocking. As with any pack, there would need to be a pecking order established. Best not to be weakened until that pecking order was firmly established.

"Let's give it a good five years before the next round," he agreed.

"Five year intervals?" Ichigo suggested.

Well, five years between cubs seemed reasonable to him. As long as they only had one to two cubs a mating, they would have roughly four to eight cubs in the den at any time. The rest would move on to form their own dens and sub packs. They city was more than large enough for it.

"Sounds good to me," he agreed. "Just make sure you got enough rubber to make sure we can _enjoy _each other several times a night for the next five years," he smirked.

"I'll make sure," Ichigo assured him with a wild smirk of his own. "Until then, let's get this little one settled and back to sleep. Have you thought of a name yet?" he asked.

"I was sort of thinking Blanco," Grimmjow chuckled.

"No," Ichigo frowned at him. "And don't you dare suggest Shiro either," he growled warningly.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Grimmjow assured him.

They stared at the nursing cub in thought.

"What did Szayel name his girl?"

"He hasn't yet. He probably doesn't want to get attached until he is sure she will make it," Ichigo answered softly.

It made sense. It would be easier to let go of a cub that didn't have a name if the little girl didn't make it. His cub, however, was perfectly healthy and needed a name. They tossed names back and forth until the cub finished nursing and they set the little boy back to sleep. They still hadn't settled on a name, but there were a few that held promise.

Curling back up with his mate, Grimmjow slipped into slumber easily, the rest of his family sprawled out around him. He couldn't ask for more in his life.

* * *

><p>Dear lord, sorry this took so long to get out, but it just would not write itself. I am honestly not happy with it either, it's sort of half chapter, half the start of the epilogue. Well, here it is anyhow. Huge hugs for those that took the time to review.<p>

Sadly, the only thing left now is the epilogue. Hopefully, that won't take two months to pound out.


	63. Epilogue

Epilogue

It was hard to believe that such a desert wasteland could hold such beauty, but beauty it did hold in the form of a city, one decorated with bright colours and alit with the bustle of active, healthy life. The walls were still white, for the most part, but each shop had brightly covered signs and most homes had banners and plants growing in the gardens set before them. The once pure dessert city of eternal day was now a booming oasis of life. The ceiling had been reprogrammed to have the 'sun' rise at seven and set at six. At that point the ceiling reflected the true sky above it. It had taken Szayel a week to set it up, and everyone enjoyed it. Honestly, Ichigo had no clue what Aizen had been thinking keeping the city in eternal light. It drove him bonkers, let alone the Arrancar that had spent their entire existence under an eternal moon filled night.

'_Probably why it was built that way, to keep his soldiers off balance,__' _he mused.

The sound of excited laughter rang out below him, and a smile crossed his face as the ruler of Las Noches looked down at the large playground below him. It was damn near covered in cubs of various ages, shapes, genders, and breeding. A good number of them belonged to him, including his current youngest, a little girl only four years old. Watching over the cubs as they played was Karin, who never had returned to the living realm. In fact, his sister had never finished school. It was unfortunate, but she seemed content to lead a life here, and the cubs loved her while their Sires and Mapas felt relaxed enough around her to trust her with their offspring. She was the sister of the pack Alpha and the unofficial mate of one of the highest ranking members of the pack. Yylfordt held the spot behind Harribel and her current mate after all.

Thinking of his siblings, his eyes roved over the playing cubs to find his two year old niece. Tesra had been ever so nervous when the Arrancar had approached him to ask for his permission to finally initiated full on mating with Yuzu. He had agreed to it, for he knew the two would do well together and really, he couldn't say no when he, himself, had mated an Arrancar.

Yuzu was never a warrior, and the duel for dominance seemed like something she would never agree upon. From his understanding, after he had giving his permission, the two had decided to initiate a different kind of duel, some sort of cook off if he heard right. He had tuned half of it out because there was some things he DIDN'T need to know about his sister's life, and how what they had made had been use in the act of procreating….

It had been interesting since Yuzu was human, and thus had a womb full of eggs, and Tesra had been in a gigai when they mated. The result was that she hadn't had a normal hollow pregnancy at all. In fact, her pregnancy had been very human, and heavily monitored by both himself and Szayel. He swore the Natural Beta had filled ten journals on the pregnancy; one for each month of development and one for the actual birth and offspring. His niece was born looking completely human, in fact, she almost looked like a carbon copy of her mother at that age, complete with silky blond hair. The little girl was just visiting while Tesra gathered up some more rations for himself. He was living contently in the living realm with Yuzu, helping Isshin out at the clinic.

His eyes shifted to the little boy playing with his niece. That one had an impressive journal set as well, for while Szayel was the Mapa, the 'Sire' was Harribel. Szayel's theory, about how all it took was the DNA release and outwards gender was completely objective when it came to beings that were made up from thousands of souls had been proven correct. From what he understood, Szayel had basically crafted a sort of waffle bat style strap on so that when Harribel reached her release, the resulting fluid was captured by the funnel and dispensed into his body, where it was mixed with his own reiatsu and formed the cub. For once, there had been no complications, the cub was born completely fine and healthy, and Ichigo had never seen the normally stoic Harribel show such a glow as she had when she held her newly hatched son. The woman had easily adopted Szayel two other cubs as well.

As for Szayel, well, the Natural Beta FINALLY had an attentive Alpha that cared for him properly and the poor man finally got to understand just why sex was so damn great. It probably helped momentously that Harribel was as damn far away form H'tsu as you could get. Male/Female, white/bronze, chest/breast, loud/quiet, the list went on. There was absolutely nothing about Harribel that would remind anyone of H'tsu. She had also easily adjusted to and adopted Szayel's two previous cubs while making it very clear to Ichigo's hollow half that Szayel was now hers. H'tsu had pouted about it, but hadn't protested too much. In fact, Ichigo swore his hollow was actually terrified of the woman.

Shaking his head, Ichigo continued to peruse the damn near herd of cubs below him, his eyes falling on the older ones, now humanoid. At the tender age of ten they had started to seal their more animalistic forms. There was now a weapons rack by the entrance of the play ground housing the ten Zanpakuto that belonged to the ten cubs that had sealed their power. It was best not to bring something sharp and dangerous into such a rambunctious setting after all.

Unconsciously, his eyes drifted over to the two oldest cubs on the play ground. Granted, they were less cubs now and more teenagesr. Hijastro and Cachorro, both of them sixteen now, were helping their aunt keep the herd of cubs under control, with a bit of help today from a visiting Ternero.

Cachorro, a damn near spiting image of his Mapa but with a hair colour to match his soft grey fur. Hijastro, braided pink hair like her Mapa's ran down to her hips and pale skin that had most of the other Arrancar already eyeing her up for mate material, much to Szayel's cringe. Fortunately, Ichigo law was firm and only two idiots had dared to test it in the first year. He had let H'tsu deal with them and no one had ever dared to try initiating a mating again without his permission.

Speaking of the Devil, H'tsu decided to speak up, breaking him out of his reflections.

"_**Looks like that bull headed idiot is finally mustering up enough balls to approach you,**__**"**_ H'tsu snorted into his mind.

"_It is merely time,__"_Zangetsu countered.

"_Zangetsu is right,__"_Ichigo agreed with his Zanpakuto.

Ichigo kept most of his attention on the playing cubs, six of which were his, but did let his eyes flicker to the nervous Arrancar slowly approaching him respectively. He was looking much better these days. Most of his muscle mass had returned and he was once more preened to as much perfection as the Grantz line seemed to demand. There was still the traces of a haunted look in his eyes, all of those held prisoner and experimented on by Kurotsuchi had such a look and Ichigo doubted it would ever fully go away.

"Kurosaki-sama," Yylfordt greeted him officially, using a title the Arrancar had never bothered with before. If Ichigo had any doubt that Yylfordt was here on official business, they were quelled now.

"Yylfordt," Ichigo returned. "What brings you up here?" he asked. He knew the answer of course, but there were appearances that required being kept, posturing that needed to be done rituals that needed to be observed. One got the point.

Yylfordt approached him and kneeled on the floor before him, bearing his throat in a sign of submission as he spoke.

"I humbly request your permission to officially mate your sister, Kurosaki Karin."

Ichigo offered the Arrancar a small smile, and gestured for him to get up.

"Since I value my comfortably existence, and can feel the burning glare of Karin from here," he glanced down to where his sister was sending him a threatening glare from down below, "you have my permission to court and mate my sister," he concluded.

"Thank you," Yylfordt rose and bowed. "So, can I call you Niisama now?" he asked with a quip, dropping the seriousness of the situation now that the protocol had been observed.

Ichigo chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Technically, wouldn't **I** need to be the one to call you that?" he pointed out amused.

"Maybe," Yylfordt agreed. "Let's just settle on Bro."

"You call almost everyone that," Ichigo pointed out.

Yylfordt just shrugged and tossed down a winning smile towards Karin, who smirked back before turning her attention to rounding the cubs up. It was getting late and in ones and twos, the cubs were slowly being picked up by their respective parents as they got off shift from whatever job it was they had here.

Karin wasn't the only non Arrancar living in Las Nachos. Chad had remained here, as had Ishida. The first still owned a restaurant and the second had a very successful fashion line. Both offered lessons to those willing to learn.

As for Shinigami, well, Hanataro never was able to go home. The poor boy was working in the clinic alongside himself while still acting as a psychiatrist for those that required his services, and there were those that definitely needed it. Kurotsuchi had been a right royal bastard to some of those he had experimented on.

A representative from Soul Society was on hand at all times as well, mostly to make sure that Ichigo was doing as promised and not raising another army to attack them with like Aizen had done. Not that most of the higher ups believed he would, but not everyone knew him. Thus, Jushiro damn near lived here as well, the white haired Taichou finding it oddly easier to live her comfortably where the air was more heavily saturated with reishi.

Rukia and Renji were a constant here as well. The cubs adored them, especially Renji. The red haired Fukutaichou had no problems letting the cubs climb all over him and Rukia was more than willing to spend hours brushing out fur and braiding hair. All three were free to come and go as they pleased. It helped to smooth things over with the aristocrats on the other side of the dimensional wall, and if that wasn't enough, Byakuya visited infrequently as well.

"Looks like she's done with the cubs," Ichigo noted as he watched his own mate arrive from training those that did the boarder patrols.

"Yeah," Yylfordt agreed, a smile of anticipation touching his lips.

"You hurt her or any of the cubs she blesses you with, and I'll give you to H'tsu to play with for the rest of your life," he warned darkly, letting a bit of his hollow half through to put weight behind the threat.

"_**And I would play with him too,**__**"**_H'tsu purred. "_**I wonder if his whimpers are as good as his brother's,**__**"**_his hollow half mused.

Ichigo ignored him, and watched satisfied as Yylfordt gulped nervously and assured him he would never harm Karin or any cubs she graced him with. With that, Ichigo waved him away, and the Arrancar disappeared in a burst of Sonido that landed him beside Karin. Despite the dire warning he had just received, the blond Arrancar was damn near vibrating in anticipation as he kneeled before Karin and presented her with the long box he'd been carrying.

Ichigo watched as Karin stared at the box breathlessly, before opening it to the take out the finely crafted katana it contained. She held the sword reverently, before tossing him a thankful gaze.

"Better than some pussy ass, human, wedding ring," Grimmjow grunted, as his mate arrived to stand beside him, their impressive collection of cubs in tow.

"To her at least," Ichigo agreed, absently bending down to let his youngest son climb into his arms. As the boy had grown, he started to look less like H'tsu and more like, well, Toshiro if Ichigo was to make a comparison. "How did training go?" he asked.

"Well enough," Grimmjow shrugged. "Shall we get the brats fed and into bed?" he questioned.

His cubs let out loud protests, at least the younger ones did. Cachorro had a much later bed time than the rest, and was pretty much self depended at this stage, but he pretended to go to bed the same time they did to avoid dramatics. His eldest had his own room in the nursery wing and would be moving out soon to start his own pack and life. He'd been helping out with the livestock they had managed to bring in from Soul Society and raise. So far chickens and pigs made up the majority of it. Both were relatively easy to care for. Ichigo was hesitant to bring in cattle, they took too much feed to raise. Chickens were easy, took little space, and provided both meat and eggs. Pigs bred quickly, were content with smallish enclosures, and were content to feed off of table scraps. Pork was a common item on their menu. The last bit were goats, bred mostly for milk as they ate damn near anything and also took up little space.

Harribel and Szayel were in the process of stocking a large lake they had made with fish. Last he had heard, the plant life was almost well established enough to start putting the fish in. The ten barrels of shrimp larva they had put in two weeks ago were well established and ready. Six barrels of Namazu fry were suppose to be arriving sometime next week. If all went well, by this time next year fish would become a staple of their diet.

Grimmjow herded their cubs to the large bathing chamber to get them cleaned up while he set about making dinner for his family. A part of him couldn't help but to leave feelers out towards the breeding chamber. It was a room specifically designed to let the Arrancar go full out without fear of damaging anything around them when the first, and often subsequence, battle for dominance occurred. The room also sealed from the inside so that the newly mated couple could rest and recover from the mating without the fear of anyone interfering. Ichigo made it a tradition to meet the couple the next morning and escort them to the nursery wing, where the Beta would be kept safe while the Alpha continued to attend to his or, in Harribel and Szayel's case, her duties.

Like him Karin had given up her human body in addition to her human life. He didn't know what she had done with it and had never asked. She had been training with Yylfordt, and Grimmjow when he wasn't looking, for the last decade. While nowhere near himself in power, she had, at least, raised her abilities to be on par with the weaker Arrancar. She couldn't use Kido, no one was around to teach her anyhow, but she had mastered the use of a Katana, enough so that she could out duel pretty much anyone. It was her lack of strength and slower speed that prevented her from rising any higher, but since there was really no reason to need to go to war, that was enough. She could defend herself and that was what mattered.

He felt his sister and Yylfordt's reiatsu raise, and he knew the duel for domination had began. So intently was he following it, that he almost burned dinner, and would have had Cachorro not arrived to snap him out of his day dreaming. After that, it was another typical evening in the Kurosaki household.

Dinner was eaten, play and roughhousing ensued, whining occurred when it was bed time, and Mapa and Sire wished their cubs a good night's sleep before retreating to their own chambers. Ichigo did a quick patrol of the nursery wing, stopping to check in on Szayel and his cubs before finishing his patrol and returning to his own den.

He arrived at his room and leaned against the wall as he watched Grimmjow shed his clothing, preparing himself for bed. His eyes roved over his mate's body, noting the finely toned muscles. He licked his lips in hunger as his eyes drank in the sight of his lover. It was a sight he swore he would never get tired of.

"See something you like, Shinigami?" Grimmjow questioned with a smirk.

Ichigo couldn't help but to remember the first time Grimmjow had asked him that, years ago in his bedroom. It was a question that had started all of this. This time though, his answer wasn't a hesitant 'maybe' but to rush forward with a burst of Shunpo that had his startled mate pinned to their bed, his 'erk' of surprise silenced by the dominating kiss of the powerful Alpha.

Grimmjow's hands came up to help him rid himself of his own clothing, tearing the material in several places when it refused to co-operate. The tatters were tossed aside and skin rubbed against skin as the two of them desperately tried to get as much contact with each other as was possible. Grimmjow's claws ran down Ichigo's back, leaving raised welts in their wake. Ichigo pulled away from the kiss and nipped at Grimmjow's throat, moaning as his teeth drew blood and he lapped at the life force of his Beta. Said Beta let out gasps of his own and bared his neck in submission, silently begging for more attention. Ichigo moved to lay beside his lover and transferred his lips from this mate's neck to a nipple while his hand sought out the quickly growing arouse that was nestled amungst powder blue curls between Grimmjow's thighs. The semi hard length did not remain that way for long, and he smirked against the nipple he was teasing with his teeth as Grimmjow's hips rose up off of their nest in a bid to get more stimulation on his weeping cock.

"Kurosaki!" Grimmjow growled, his voice rough with the haze of lust.

"Hmm?" Ichigo questioned, giving the shaft he was stroking a firm squeeze.

"Fuck," Grimmjow gasped, writhing beneath his attentions.

Chuckling, Ichigo moved once more to pin his mate down, settling between his legs and rubbing their weeping erections together. He moved his chest against Grimmjow's, causing their nipples to twist and turn around each other. Grimmjow shuddered beneath him again, claws digging into this shoulders and drawing small streams of blood as he tried to hold on. Ichigo let him, returning his lips and tongue to the hollow at Grimmjow's throat, where the skin had scared after thousands of nights of being nipped at tormented.

He felt Grimmjow begin to trust against him more desperately as the Arrancar began to reach his release. Ichigo pulled away, earning a brief whine of displeasure and longing from his mate.

"Ready to go so soon?" Ichigo questioned, his own voice rough with testosterone.

"Just fuck me already," Grimmjow snarled, or tried to. His voice came out a bit hoarse with need.

Reaching over to the dresser, Ichigo pulled out a bottle of lube. He poured a generous amount onto his fingers before sitting back and smirking down at the sight of his undone mate. Grimmjow's sweat soaked body shivered as he traced the entrance with his slicked fingers, before thrusting them into his lover's compliant body. Grimmjow's hips moved to meet his fingers, seeking the heat and friction they offered. Ichigo didn't need to search for his target, his fingers knew where it was, and with two soft brushes from his index finger, Grimmjow's back arched from the bed and his madly twitching cock gave off two spurts of semen as pleasure wracked the Arrancar's body.

Satisfied, Ichigo removed his fingers and settled more comfortably between Grimmjow's thighs. With one hand he held himself over his mate, with the other he lined up his cock with Grimmjow's prepared ass and dove in. Once more Grimmjow's body arched off of the bed, and the hollow let out a cry of pleasure as the Alpha started to ride him with quick, fast thrusts into his lover's willing body. Ichigo kept the pace up for a while, almost sitting up as he trust into Grimmjow's body and enjoying the sight of his lover squirming in pleasure against the sheets of their nest.

"Does that feel good?" he questioned, feral golden eyes gazing down at his beta, his voice tainted with the reverb of hollow instinct.

Grimmjow was unable to answer save to thrust his hips up in a bid for more friction. Ichigo smirked, and leaned over his mate once more to maul his neck, this time on the less abused side. Grimmjow shivered and cried out, cum coated their stomachs as the hollow reached completion. Ichigo paused and let Grimmjow lay panting beneath him for a minute before sitting back once more and, leaving himself still buried within his lover, flipped Grimmjow around to lay on his stomach before pulling his ass into the air. Once situated, Ichigo continued, thrusting into the limp and sated body of his Beta.

Grimmjow damn near purred, his hands kneading at the blankets as Ichigo set an easy pace. After about ten minutes of languid thrusts, he snaked his hands around their joined bodies to seek out Grimmjow's semi hard length. With a few stroked of his hands against the shaft, and his own cock against Grimmjow;s prostate, the turgid flesh became solid once more. Ichigo picked up his pace, thrusting into his mate and nailing his prostate so hard that the only sounds in the room were that of the wet, slapping sound of their bodies joining and Grimmjow loud gasps and pants of pleasure. With stimulation to cock and prostate, it wasn't long before his Beta came again, spurting semen over his hands and coating their sheets, back arched and face lifted to the moon as he howled his pleasure. The shuddering body beneath him, locked in orgasmic bliss, pulled him over as well. His own back arched as his cock pulsed.

Ichigo did not pull out though, nor had he bothered with a condom. With a smirk, he let his essence flood into his Beta's willing body, filling his mate with semen. It was just about time for another cub, and seeing as how his sister was being mated right now, he might as well mate his own Beta. Pregnancy loved company after all, and seeing as how Karin had a Shinigami body, where as Yuzu and Tesra had used human and gigai, he strongly suspected his dark haired sister would have a hollow pregnancy.

Grimmjow let out a gasp and looked over his shoulder at him. No words were spoken, as they needed none. With eyes that were quickly drooping into exhausting, Grimmjow fell more comfortably onto their bed and damn near purred in pleasure as his body began to render their joint reiatsu. Ichigo pulled out and spooned up beside his beta, gently rubbing his back while kissing and nipping at his throat in a display of dominance. He remained that way until Grimmjow drifted off to sleep. Only now did Ichigo rise from their nest, took a quick shower to rinse their joining from his body, pull on his uniform, and slip from their chambers.

He had a tradition to uphold, and seeing as how this tradition involved his sister, it was one he was definitely not going to miss out on. He released the seal on the mating chamber and stepped inside. Yylfordt must have sensed him coming, for the newly minted Alpha had his Beta wrapped warmly in a blanket and held bridle style as he made for the door. Karin was asleep, a soft smile of contentment on her lips as she slumbered with her new katana, thankfully in it's sheath, cradled against her chest. What was left of the new couples clothing was in shreds scattered across the room and Yylfordt's own Zanpakuto was held at his waist with what was left of his belt.

"How did it go?" Ichigo asked his new brother-in-law.

"Well," Yylfordt answered with a wide smirk.

Ichigo led them from the chamber to the room already prepared for them. Karin didn't stir once and he could sense the vortex of reiatsu within her stomach as her body rendered it into what would be his new niece or nephew. Yylfrodt's body had several lines of what looked like slash marks on it, indicating Karin had gotten some hits in on her Alpha during the test of dominance.

"Beside your's huh. I almost feel like you don't trust me bro," Yylfordt chuckled as Ichigo opened to door to the den next to his own.

He offered Yylfordt a smile that was half amusement and half threat. This was his sister they were talking about after all.

Yylfordt looked at the wall separating their rooms from eachother even as he settled Karin into the nest. He raised one golden eyebrow as his seeking reiatsu found Grimmjow's obviously mated body.

"Good night, and remember, Yylfordt," Ichigo let a bit of H'tsu come forth, **"****if you hurt her or her cubs, you will live to regret it.****"**

The new Alpha nodded his head wearily, before settling into the nest behind his new mate and spooning up against her. Ichigo left, but not before looking back once more to see his sister murmur pleasantly in her sleep and shift back to soak in her mate's heat.

Ichigo returned to his own room where he slipped back into his own nest and pulled his own Beta tight to his chest.

"All go good? Grimmjow questioned sleepily.

"Yes, all is good."

* * *

><p>Oh god it's over. Should I throw a party or hide in my bunker? Huge loves and hugs for everyone that reviewed.<p>

Story Stats:

Pages: 656

Words: 274,994

Well, here it is, another completed fanfict. I may go back at some point and edit a few chapters that are a little painful to read due to spelling and grammar errors, but otherwise, it is done. I hope you enjoyed it Blackstorm, and anyone else who is into Ichi/Grimm. Will I do another? Not any time soon. I have to finish POV 2 before I think of any other stories. If you would like to use this universe, and any of the terms or pregnancy idea's I used here, you are welcome to do so provided credit and a link are returned to this story.

In parting, one thing I do ask is that if you read this story, you drop a review and say so. No need to log in or anything.


End file.
